From today’s Old Testament reading, from Exodus: ‘Moses said, “I pray thee, show me thy glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand upon the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”’

St Augustine wrote: ‘“Here is a place next to me”. But what place is not next to God, who is not absent from anywhere? With these words: Here is a place next to me, the Church is symbolised, as if referring to a temple, and continues saying: You will stand on the rock – because, as the Lord says: “On this stone I will build my Church” as soon as my glory passes, he will stand on the rock, because after the passage of Christ, that is, after the passion and resurrection of Christ, the faithful people will be on the rock’.

May God bless you this day, as you live and pray ‘on the rock’ of the Church.