The First Reading for this Sunday, The Fourth Sunday in Lent, is from Numbers 21:4 -9 where the Israelites “spoke against God and against Moses, (saying) 'Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food”.
“For there is no food?” Actually there was food from heaven - manna - but it was not what they wanted.
It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between “needs” and “wants”. Many complaints heard everyday are not because of lack of needs but wants. Every report of good news on the media, for example, new jobs added or less claims for unemployment, there follows a counter-measure, such as, “but gas prices continue to make life difficult!”
Who would think that the Israelites would make a comparison with bondage in Egypt? Yet this Reading is a good reminder of Short-term Memory.
God desires gratefulness. Indeed, the other lessons for this Sunday – Ephesians 2:1 -10; John 3:14 -21; and Psalm 107:1 -3, 17 -22 all emphasize God's mercy and grace.
The appropriate response is “a sacrifice of thanksgiving and telling of God's acts with shouts of joy” (Ps.107:22) not complaints. Is there anything at all to be grateful for?
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