Exodus 8:16-11:10

The story of Moses continues with the remaining seven plagues brought on by Pharaoh's obstinate refusal to accede to God's request, communicated through Moses and Aaron, that the Israelites be allowed to leave Egypt to worship God. The pattern was so familiar from plague to plague that it started to get tiresome. Moses makes request; Pharaoh denies request;  Moses threatens plague; Pharaoh still denies request; plague comes; Pharaoh gives in; Moses ends plague; Pharaoh breaks promise. But then suddenly I saw myself in the Pharaoh. God shows me the way--through the Word, through the Church, through the love of those around me; I promise to walk more closely in the path He calls me to; I wander off or get distracted and forget my promise; I feel lost; rinse and repeat. It particularly hit home during the plague of darkness, when the Egyptians could see nothing, not even the people around them. Like me when I wander off from God and forget Him. Interesting that the darkness lasts three days, like the darkness the Earth was in when Jesus died and descended into Hell, before the Resurrection. By the way, isn't it a fascinating notion that Jesus descended into Hell? It is in the Apostle's Creed although not in the Nicene Creed that we recite at Mass. I am intrigued by that visit to Hell, by what it could have been like for Jesus, and what it was meant to accomplish.