My reflection is from Living Faith:
In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?” Exodus 17:3
“Ah, yes, I can identify with the grumbling pilgrims in Exodus. I, too, want freedom from work what enslaves me. But when the going gets tough, if I must make difficult choices to leave old habits and unloving behaviors behind, I can get a little huffy: Spiritual growth ought to be easier. I’m tired of this. How come this is taking so long? What difference do Lenten practices make anyhow?
We are probably each tempted from time to time during Lent to turn around and head back to our own Egypts, to sink into old familiar patterns that do not demand much from us. Today’s grumblers in Exodus give us a little poke in the spiritual ribs to encourage us: ’Keep at it. You’ll make it through the desert just like we did.'” Sr. Joyce Rupp O.S.M