Podcast Summary: Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons
Episode: You Can’t Grasp—or Hide From—God
Host: Bishop Robert Barron
Date: March 18, 2025
Episode Overview
On the third Sunday of Lent, Bishop Robert Barron delves into the profound spiritual and theological lessons drawn from Moses’ encounter with the burning bush (Exodus 3). Through a close examination of the passage, Barron explores how the story sheds light on the nature of God, the process of spiritual maturation, and the meaning of holiness and mission in the Christian life. The sermon seamlessly weaves biblical context, philosophical insights, and practical application, encouraging listeners to reflect deeply on their relationship with God during Lent.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Context and Transformation of Moses
- Timestamps: [00:39]–[03:36]
- Moses’ transformation from a privileged “prince of Egypt” to a humbled desert shepherd is underlined as a necessary purgation before encountering God.
- Barron notes the biblical pattern: “[Before] you can deal properly with God, you have to be purged of certain things in your own psyche, ego, soul. Certain things have to fall away before you're ready for an encounter with God.”
- The desert is described as a space of testing and spiritual preparation, resonating with Lent’s themes.
2. The Burning Bush as Theological Symbol
- Timestamps: [03:36]–[06:21]
- The image of the burning bush—aflame but not consumed—stands as a powerful metaphor for God’s non-competitive, life-enhancing presence.
- “When God comes close, things are enhanced. They become more beautifully themselves, if I can put it that way.” [05:20]
- Contrasts Biblical revelation with pagan mythology, emphasizing that God’s glory does not diminish creation, but fulfills it.
- The image of the burning bush—aflame but not consumed—stands as a powerful metaphor for God’s non-competitive, life-enhancing presence.
3. God’s Holiness and Human Limits
- Timestamps: [06:21]–[08:57]
- Moses’ curiosity—“I must go over…and see why the bush is not consumed”—reflects lingering pride and an illusion of control.
- God’s instruction to “remove the sandals from your feet” signals vulnerability and respect for “holy ground.”
- “There's something about taking the sandals off that makes you more vulnerable…You're in the presence of a power that you can't control.” [07:28]
- “Holy” is defined as “set apart,” marking an encounter with the transcendent otherness of God.
4. A God Both Other and Near
- Timestamps: [08:57]–[10:38]
- Although God is radically Other (“take off your sandals”), He is also profoundly intimate—He names Himself as “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” and sympathizes with the suffering of His people.
- “This God is incomparably close, even as he remains radically other…God is that which can be neither grasped nor hidden from.” [09:58]
- Barron stresses that God cannot be manipulated or avoided, occupying a unique ontological space.
- Although God is radically Other (“take off your sandals”), He is also profoundly intimate—He names Himself as “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” and sympathizes with the suffering of His people.
5. The Divine Name: “I AM WHO I AM”
- Timestamps: [10:38]–[12:41]
- Barron unpacks the significance of God’s “name,” distinguishing God from all created beings.
- “What's your name? I don't have a name in that conventional way because I'm not a particular being among many.” [11:28]
- Drawing on Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine, Bishop Barron explains:
- “God is not a being at all…not even in the genus of being.”
- Augustine’s phrase: “Superior Summo Meo, higher than anything I can imagine, and Intimior Intimumeo, closer to me than I am to myself. At the same time.” [12:24]
- This dialectic means God is both transcendent and immanent, “not just up there,” nor simply “all around here”—He is both beyond and within creation.
- Barron unpacks the significance of God’s “name,” distinguishing God from all created beings.
6. Spiritual Application: Surrender, Not Control or Escape
- Timestamps: [12:41]–[13:46]
- Barron warns against two spiritual temptations: trying to control/manipulate God, or hiding from Him.
- “Because in our sin, we're going to always do one of those two things. Grasping. I'm going to try to manipulate God or I'm going to hide from God. You can't do either one.” [13:13]
- The only faithful response is “surrender in faith and love to the one whose very nature is to be.”
- Barron warns against two spiritual temptations: trying to control/manipulate God, or hiding from Him.
7. Mission Rooted in Encounter with Mystery
- Timestamps: [13:46]–[14:36]
- Moses’ mission—to liberate his people—can only begin once he has experienced God’s mystery and majesty.
- “When you move into that spiritual space, you're ready for mission…” [14:09]
- God readies His servants through interior purification, so they can be trusted with His work.
- Moses’ mission—to liberate his people—can only begin once he has experienced God’s mystery and majesty.
Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments
-
On God’s Non-Competitive Nature:
“When God comes close, things are enhanced. They become more beautifully themselves, if I can put it that way.”
— Bishop Barron, [05:20] -
On the Limits of Human Control:
“You don't get me on your terms. You're not the one asking the questions here. You're not the one examining. Rather, take off your sandals.”
— Bishop Barron, [07:02] -
On Divine Transcendence and Immanence:
“God is that which can be neither grasped nor... nor hidden from. God can be neither controlled nor avoided.”
— Bishop Barron, [09:58] -
Augustine’s Summary (in Latin):
“Superior Summo Meo, higher than anything I can imagine. And Intimior Intimumeo, closer to me than I am to myself. At the same time.”
— Bishop Barron, [12:24] -
On Spiritual Surrender:
“Surrender in faith and love to the one whose very nature is to be. The One whose name is. I am the one who you can't control. You can't hide from.”
— Bishop Barron, [13:32]
Key Timestamps
| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|------------------------------------------------| | 00:39 | Introduction to Moses and context of Exodus 3 | | 03:36 | The burning bush as symbol | | 07:02 | “Take off your sandals”—holiness and vulnerability | | 09:58 | God’s intimacy and otherness | | 11:28 | “I AM WHO I AM”—divine name and mystery | | 13:13 | Temptation to grasp or hide from God | | 14:09 | Mission flows from encounter with God |
Conclusion
Bishop Barron’s homily vividly brings to life the encounter between God and Moses as a template for spiritual growth. Through Exodus 3, listeners are urged to relinquish illusions of control and self-sufficiency, and instead surrender to the living God—ever beyond human categories, yet closer than we can fathom. This humble surrender is ultimately the path to spiritual vitality and service.