Our psalmist declares today: “The Lord remembers his covenant forever.” We hear this statement of God remembering his covenant with his people, yet we know of the complexity of the relationship that God had with the people of Israel, how that relationship could be so rocky and complicated at times, how the people of Israel would often openly rebel or turn their backs on the Lord. Yet, we hear Moses receive the call from God in our reading from Exodus, as God calls Moses to lead his people. God speaks to Moses through the flames of the burning bush. For us, flames are symbolic not only of God’s divine presence, but also of the power of the Holy Spirit that is with us in the world today to lead us and guide us.
On this day back in 1903, Pope Leo XIII entered eternal life. In 1878, when he was 68 years old and serving as Bishop of Perugia in Italy, he was elected to succeed Pope Pius IX, who had served as pope for 32 years, the longest verified papal reign. Leo XIII served as pope for 25 years. He is most remembered for his contributions to Catholic social teaching, the most significant being the encyclical Rerum Novarum. This document came out at a time when workers were being exploited, where children were forced to work in terrible working conditions, and where the poor were not afforded many opportunities to live in dignity and justice. Rerum Novarum is still considered a ground-breaking document in our modern era as it celebrates God’s love and mercy, as it calls the faithful to implement justice and mercy in the way we treat our brothers and sisters in society, especially the poor and the oppressed. May we continue to work for those issues of social justice that Pope Leo XIII brought to our attention.
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