Moses as Mediator

Are you thinking what does Moses have to do with prayer since that seems to be the theme this summer? Well the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) tells us that the prayer of Moses has become known as “the most striking example of intercessory prayer.” (CCC 2574) The definition for intercession on thefreedictionary.com says:

“1. Entreaty in favor of another, especially a prayer or petition to God in behalf of another. 2. Mediation in a dispute.”

Well this definitely describes what Moses did between Yahweh and His people during the Exodus don’t you think?

Moses doesn’t go into this prayer relationship with God easily if you remember. He made excuses, questioned “why me?” and flat out refused. God kept nudging him, revealed the name Yaweh to Moses and led him to the realization that with God’s help Moses would be able to reveal the one true God to the people. The CCC tells us that “Moses converses with God often and at length, climbing the mountain to hear and entreat Him and coming down to the people to repeat the words of God for their Guidance.” (CCC 2576) If Moses can do this so can we…he tried to get out of this intercessor role by saying he wasn’t fluent with words, God had a comeback in the form of Moses’ brother Aaron, telling Moses that Aaron would be able to speak for him if necessary. God doesn’t let us get out of prayer that easily, nor does He want us to keep that prayer to ourselves. We are to carry His word to those we meet each and every day. We even should bring the requests of those we meet to God being the intercessor just as Moses was between God and the people.

The love God has for us is steadfast and unwavering. Can we say that about our love for God? When our prayers aren’t answered right away or how we think they should be answered we sometimes give up on God and try to go it on our own. That sure doesn’t work well for me anyway. In Moses’ time when the people tried to go their own way, by beginning to worship idols like the Egyptians that had enslave them they found out the one true God could get very angry. Again Moses interceded and came back to the people with the 10 Commandments.

God continues to offer us the chance to recognize our need for Him in our lives and that prayer is the way to communicate with Him. Sometimes the prayer is hard to communicate, that is when we need to rely on others to intercede for us. The power of prayer is wonderful we only need to use it.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church: October 2010, USCCB, Libreria Editrice Vaticana)