December 18: O Adonai, O Lord

O Sacred Lord of Ancient Israel,
who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush,
who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain:
Come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free. 

Moses Before the Burning Bush, bas relief plaque by Scott Sullivan, 2004.

 Look at just a part of the story of Moses in the Old Testament, Exodus 3: 1-17. What can you tell your children about what is going on there? While we know that God is so much stronger and wiser and better (and any other good superlative we can think of!) than us, isn't it amazing that God loves us so much to always want to help us?

God helped our ancestors and helps us in many ways: inspiring people to take on leadership when times were tough, providing that wisdom and guidance and vision to figure out how to make things better, and giving us laws to set us free. 

Giving us laws? That's not freedom!!! Oh, but if you look at the Ten Commandments (Exodus Chapter 20), they really are basic laws that help people get along with each other. It's hard to trust people who steal and lie and covet what doesn't belong to them, isn't it?

You could list with your child some of the laws in your family, and why they exist. (E.g., Not touching hot stoves, being home or in bed by a certain time both are matters of safety or good health, picking up after yourself is a sign of respect for everybody else who lives there, etc.)  Good rules help us feel more secure and free us from constantly trying to figure out what's right. (Bad or silly rules are just annoying, aren't they?!)

In what ways can your child name that Jesus 'stretched out his mighty hand to set us free', by his actions or words? What laws did he give us? (for ideas, see: Matthew 25: 31-40; Luke 6: 27-38; John 13: 34-35)

In your own words or using the words of the antiphon at the top of this post, pray with your child for God to lead you along the paths of safety and goodness.