Today’s first reading recounts how God calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses’ first reaction is to ask God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”  It seems like a good question because God is asking Moses to perform no small task. The Israelites are being held in bondage by a great and mighty nation.

Ignatian spirituality insists God is active in the world and in our lives. God is constantly calling and inviting us to be His presence in the world. We have the Spiritual Exercises because of Ignatius’ desire to deepen his own relationship with God and to hear God’s call in his own life. Through Ignatian spirituality we become more attentive and responsive to God’s call in our own lives. Sometimes the call we hear from God can result in the same response we hear from Moses in the first reading.

Our response to God’s call is here and now in the concrete details of our lives. We are called to look beyond our own weakness, failure and unworthiness. God assured Moses “I will be with you.” We have that very same assurance from a God, the depth of whose love for us we cannot imagine.

—David McNulty is the Provincial Assistant for Advancement, Chicago-Detroit Province Jesuits