Fr. John Ryan

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

11th March 2007

 

September 1988 I sat my final exams for the degree in Philosophy. I had nine three hour written papers to sit and the material was divided into three major parts, with each part further divided three ways. Of all the questions presented during those exams only one has stuck in my mind. It was based on a course called 'The Intelligibility of Theism' (one which I found particularly obscure)! The exam question read as follows: "God is whatever is is. Discuss". At first read of the paper I said no way was I going to attempt it, but as time passed by I was drawn more and more and finally, I tried it. The key to my change of attitude was remembering that St. Thomas Aquinas had looked at the nature of God and did so by beginning with God' self-description in Exodus 3: 14, which is part of today's first reading. "I Am who I Am". For Aquinas God's essence is to exist - God does, always has and always will, exist. He is eternally present. For Moses' needs God does clarify by telling him that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In order to ground understanding of God in some way there is a concrete, historical setting put in place. The descendants of the great patriarchs would recognise the God who was calling them out of slavery through reference to something they could understand. The God who is, is for all people at all times. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the God of Moses. For us, people of the New Covenant, he is the God of Jesus Christ. He is my God. He is our God. And he can be all those things because he is eternally present and entering into relationship with his creation.
I am who I am - God is whatever is is - leads us into relationship. The existing God interacts with existence. Through the revelation of Jesus Christ we come to know the God who is, and we recognise that this God of philosophical and linguistic question is the God who is love, truth, goodness, beauty. It is much easier for us to delve into those descriptions of God - the descriptions which speak of attributes we may attain to and so comprehend in some way, while the philosophical quest for understanding existence, being, can leave us quite baffled.
Our God, through his Son Jesus Christ, allows us to see who he is and realise what he has to offer us. Today Jesus is calling us to understand that - he is calling us to recognise that we have failed at times to acknowledge the ever-present God, and repent, change heart and put the I Am back at he centre of our lives. Our repentance is one that should direct us to express that God's presence is real, effective, affective, relational - he IS there for us and always WILL BE there for us, just as he WAS there for Moses and the people of Israel.