Sample Spiritual Reflections
Sample Video Reflection
Exodus 2026-2027
Witness a sample reflection from St. Joseph Member Jamie LaBelle. Her words are shared in the video transcript below.
Video Transcript
Good morning. This is Jamie LaBelle with the St. Joseph’s Branch of the Cornerstone. Today is Wednesday, September 9th, 2026. This is our first session, our visitor session, and this is our reflection for today.
Welcome back. I’m overjoyed to see so many familiar faces and to be joined by so many new people as well. For those who are new to the Cornerstone, this talk is the final talk and final segment of our gathering. It’s called the reflection. We usually have a shorter talk at the beginning of our time together, which today we watched that video in place of the talk. That talk is called the focus.
This reflection talk is longer in length than the first and usually dives a little deeper into scripture. We may look at the historical context, the theological implications, and what it may reveal to you and to all of us on a personal level.
This year, we are studying the Book of Exodus. It is the second book of the Bible. It’s part of the Pentateuch. The name Exodus comes from the Greek word
“exodos”, which means going out, describing how the Israelites left Egypt to find their place of refuge. It’s a long book. It’s 40 chapters, and historians do not know for sure who wrote the Book of Exodus. It’s been a wide-held belief by both Jews and Christians alike that Moses wrote the book. Having grown up in the Pharaoh’s household, he would’ve been literate and capable of writing a book of this magnitude. And considering how he is the main character throughout all 40 chapters, it would make sense that he may be the writer.
However, there are arguments that this book was written over time by multiple authors. You can go down many rabbit holes about theories and proof of who did or did not write the Book of Exodus, but the important thing to know is that the Catholic Church does not have a clear answer as to who wrote the book. It’s up to each of us to decide, but the main thing is that although the writer is unknown, the author is the Holy Spirit. Exodus is a wild ride. It is one of my absolute favorite books of the Old Testament. It is filled with good storytelling and a lot of drama as we follow the chosen people’s journey to the Promised Land. But what I love most about it is that to me, it clearly depicts the lengths that God will go, the lengths God has gone, to show us He loves us.
From the very beginning of the Exodus story, we will read about how God protected the Jewish people as they were enslaved in Egypt, then how He protected them as they were wandering through the desert, lost and afraid. We will read about how God provided for them at every turn, even when at every turn, they went against His word.
God loved His people, even when His people didn’t love Him back. And that love didn’t end at the end of chapter 40. That love continues today. It’s continued through the centuries, and it’s evident today in our own lives. Exodus may be a book from the Old Testament. It may depict a time and a season long before our Messiah entered the world, but it very much is a book for us. We cannot read it simply as a historical reference guide or as a commentary on the Jewish faith. It is the living, breathing word of God, filled with knowledge and insights into the Creator who had our hearts and our souls in mind when these stories were being played out.
God loves to play the long game, and Exodus shows that from the beginning of time, God was setting the stage for each of us, each of us here, to know Him and to love Him.
In the time of the Old Testament, His people couldn’t possibly understand and see what God had in mind. The Israelites had to completely trust in His word, even when His word seemed absolutely strange. They couldn’t see the end game, but they had faith that there was one.
Last year, we studied the Acts of the Apostles. We saw very clearly how God was paving the way for the new Christian Church. The world was changing, and God was with them every step of the way. Need I remind you about the many times God was there watching over them? About when an angel freed Peter from jail, or when Peter healed a paralyzed man outside the temple, or when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles. God was with them. In Acts, it was easy to see how Jesus went before them and was always with his people.
But this year, we are going even further back in history to a time when Jesus had not been born, Pentecost had not happened, Christianity was not even a thought, and the Israelites were in the baby stages of their relationship with God. How will we see God’s hand at play throughout these stories? How will we see God’s love for us in these old, ancient stories?
When I was younger, I always loved reading the Old Testament. I can’t exactly tell you why, but I just know that I was drawn to the stories. But it wasn’t until I was about 15 years old that the Book of Exodus truly came alive for me in ways that I never would have imagined. Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” came out that year, and I’m sure you all remember how huge that movie was. I remember going through my dad’s office at the Catholic school where he worked, and there was this tiny little booklet titled Q&A about “The Passion of the Christ.” It went through a lot of basic questions and answers for those new to Christianity, but one of the questions had to do with the scene about the Last Supper.
Now, it’s been many years since I’ve seen the film, but if memory serves me right, the Last Supper scene was part of the opening sequence of the film right before Jesus’ arrest.
Anyway, the booklet gave a very simplified answer to the question: What is the significance of the meal scene at the beginning of the movie? I was really interested in this question because being cradle Catholic, I accepted that the Eucharist is Jesus’s body and blood and that we must partake of it to receive eternal life. But I never understood why. I never understood why Jesus chose to sacrifice himself in that manner and why we must eat of his body to receive eternal life. It all just seemed very strange to me, especially being so young. So I eagerly read the booklet looking for that answer, and the answer in the booklet, again, was very simple, but it basically pointed to Exodus 12 when God commanded the Israelites to eat of the lamb and put the blood of the lamb on their doorposts to save them from death. The first Pentecost. I’m sorry. The first Passover. The book pointed to that as the reason for the Last Supper scene and its connection to the crucifixion.
Now, we’ll go further in depth about this moment in salvation history later in the year when we study Exodus 12. But let me tell you, when I read that answer in that tiny little booklet, it was like I was absolutely dumbstruck. It was like I had learned about my faith, and not just a tiny little part of my faith, but the most important part of my faith for the first time. I was raised Catholic, but never in my life had I heard, or maybe I just never listened, but I had never heard that Jesus’s death and institution of the Eucharist were a parallel of the Passover feast. The two were connected.
It was the first time I realized that so much of our faith and so much of what we need to know about Jesus is revealed through the Old Testament. They are not just texts for the Jewish people, they are for us too. As the saying goes, “The New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.”
So back to my earlier question, how will we see God’s love for us in these ancient texts?
For me, recognizing these parallels between the Old Testament and the New has helped me see how God has been planning our salvation since the beginning of time. Since we are a Christian people, we know that when God demanded the Israelites partake in the first Passover, God was not just thinking about them and their Egyptian enslavement. God had a much bigger plan in mind. He was thinking about you, and he was thinking about me. He already knew that one day, many thousands of years later, Jesus would enter the world as a man and sacrifice himself to save us.
God already had that planned. He already had us in mind and our new Passover in the Eucharist. When God gave manna to the people in the desert, he already knew that one day we would rely on Jesus’ body to nourish our souls. When he told them to build a tabernacle, a place for him to dwell amongst his people, God already had in mind our liturgy, our churches, and our Eucharist, his eternal dwelling places.
None of these parallels are coincidences. They were all initiated by God to show that he cares for us and that one day he would unite us even closer to himself. It’s wild to think about how God knew us and was preparing the way for us, even during the time of Moses.
While Moses was in the basket floating down the river, God knew everything about who we each would be. Isn’t that an amazing thing to ponder?
A couple of years ago, my husband and I were at a Blues hockey game, and during one of the intermissions, an artist came onto the ice for a live-timed art challenge. She had four minutes to complete this huge canvas using nothing but black paint. She started painting, and everyone was on the edge of their seats, just waiting to see what she was going to do.
I remember watching her and honestly feeling so bad for her. Like secondhand embarrassment bad because her painting looked awful. It was just a bunch of blobs and lines. It didn’t resemble anything. I clearly remember looking at my husband and saying something like, “That poor woman. How embarrassing.”
But then right before the four-minute buzzer went off, she turned the canvas 180 degrees, and the different perspective changed everything. No longer was it strokes and blobs. It was a very clear and perfect painting of one of the players scoring a big goal in the previous period.
It was amazing.
While she was painting, we had no idea what the outcome would be. We had no idea what her vision was, but she did. She knew the whole time how she was going to use those blobs and lines and make it into something beautiful.
And that’s how God works. We never know why God does the things he does, or why he allows them to happen, or why he allows them to happen in the way that he does. The Israelites were probably looking at God’s commands as weird, unknown blobs and lines. They could not see the beautiful artwork that God had in store. But we’ve seen the finished painting. We’ve seen what all of those lines and blobs lead to. They lead to Jesus and to our redemption.
So this year, as we study Exodus, let’s look at the scripture through the eyes of a Christian people who already know the outcome of the painting but want to understand the artist a little better. Amen. Amen.
Genesis 2021-2022
Witness a sample reflection from one of our founding mothers and gifted Reflector, Maryann Rice. May she rest in peace. Her words are shared in the video transcript below.
Video Transcript
This is Maryann Rice at the St. Joe Branch of The Cornerstone. It’s Wednesday morning, February 16, 2022. We’re on Lesson 16 and this is our Reflection for today.
I like going back and connecting with last week’s lesson – bringing what we learned last week with us as we come into this week’s lesson. So when we got to chapter 32 this week, where Jacob wrestled with God – it reminded me of last week – chapter 28 when Jacob fell asleep and in his dream he saw angels ascending and descending from God – he SAW God and heard God speak to him. He woke up and –– as though he was really surprised –– he said “Surely the Lord is in this place and I didn’t know it!
I think if I asked any one of you whether or not you know God is there with you right now – you’d say yes – God is everywhere. That’s something we learned in first grade. But I think even though we KNOW that, we forget about it sometimes. Or sometimes there are things that make us wonder, like when things get scary or sad or bleak, or heavy and dark – we think, where is God NOW – I thought he was supposed to be everywhere, all the time, but it sure doesn’t feel like he is here NOW.
But I ALSO think we all have had situations where we could look back – in hindsight – and say the same thing Jacob said – “Surely God is in this place and I didn’t know it.” God was there all the time and Jacob just didn’t recognize it.
There is an old legend of the Cherokee Indian boy’s rite of Passage that goes like this.
The boy’s father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. The boy has never been told what happens on this night by the other young men because each of them has to come into manhood on his own, in the same way – so it’s kept a secret.
The boy is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not fall asleep and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He is terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises – all the sounds of the night. He imagines wild beasts all around him.
Finally, the sun appears and he removes his blindfold.
And he is a MAN.
And it’s THEN that he discovers his father – sitting on another stump — very near to him.
He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.
The moral of the story: Just because you can’t see God, doesn’t mean God’s not there.
That seemed like a good connection with Jacob’s realization in last week’s lesson that God was there — and he had been all the time. So we bring that idea of God being with us all the time into this week’s lesson. And this lesson is a good part of three chapters of Genesis – so a lot happens in that much space. Looking back at the very beginning and going forward from there – in a real sketchy way – I see in chapter 30 – vs 1 – Rachel is the first person mentioned – she had no children, she was envious, actually she was beside herself — about her childlessness — and she demands that Jacob give her children or she will die! –– and Jacob comes out with “What am I, God?” Doesn’t that sound like a stand-up comedian? So, in her distress, Rachel gave her maid to Jacob so she could have a baby that way. Not a plan we could decide on now days, but that was acceptable then.
Vs 9 – Leah – she thought she had finished having babies – and she wanted more babies, so she gave her maid to Jacob. She got babies that way. She went on, though, to have more of her own babies – by Jacob.
Vs 25, Rachel did too. She went on to have more babies – she had Dinah and Joseph – by Jacob –— Jacob was busy.
Vs 31 Jacob has a talk with Rachel and Leah – he says, your Father – Laban – doesn’t have much regard for me anymore – but you KNOW that I have served him well – even though he has cheated me and changed my wages TEN times. But God has been with me and has told me to go back to my homeland.
And so he goes – and on his way home – vs 32 – he sees Esau coming toward him. His twin brother. Jacob was worried — he knew this could go either way — so he came up with a plan. BUT surprise!!! Esau had no ill will – he wanted to reconcile.
He didn’t say – I’m finished with Jacob, this is it – I see him over there – I’m not interested in ANYTHING he has to say, I don’t want him back here.
He could have done that – and that would have put up a wall that would destroy that whole relationship and all that would go with it for the future. That’s what Esau DIDN’T do.
And Jacob – he didn’t say – that Esau – here he comes – I remember so many things that I don’t like about that guy. I don’t know why God thought it was a good idea for me to come back here. This is NOT what I want to do and I’m gonna turn around and go back where I came from. God was wrong THIS time. That’s what Jacob DIDN’T do.
And Leah – she had her own particular distress – but she didn’t say – that God – he should have given me more babies – I should not have to send my husband out to the maid – what kind of a god would do something like that. I don’t believe there even IS a God – I’m an atheist from now on. That’s what Leah DIDN’T do.
And Rachel – She certainly had her distress – she didn’t say – here I am barren – if there was a God he wouldn’t let something like this happen to me – I have prayed and he hasn’t given me a baby – I give up on this – I don’t even think there is a God there – if there were he would have answered me by now. That’s what Rachel DIDN’T do.
I think we have to notice that. We’re supposed to be making personal application of the scripture as we study it. And here we see a group of people who were all raised in their religion and who were all in some kind of individual distress, and NONE of them just give up on God or on their religion.
We have the expression in our vernacular – throwing out the baby with the bath water. Because you don’t like all the murk and dirt in the babies bath water – you throw the whole pan out – but you throw the baby with it – there’s something you don’t like – and because of that – even the good part – get’s thrown right out the door. That’s what we mean when we say throwing out the baby with the bath water.
And that’s what Rachel and Leah and Jacob and Esau did NOT do. There was something they didn’t like – or something God wasn’t doing the way they wanted – there was – but they didn’t throw God out the door – they worked out the thing they didn’t like and KEPT God. They threw out the bath water but NOT the baby.
But that’s not what I see people doing these days. People have a belief in God for years, they grow up in a religion – and then something happens – something they don’t like – something they don’t want to live with – they don’t like Vatican II – or they don’t like something their pastor does – or there is a death of a loved one, or they want women to be ordained, or they think the church is all about money, or they are angry and embarrassed by the priest abuse scandal – or their bishop won’t let them get married on the beach –whatever it is – and I am NOT minimizing all these problems – I know there are some BIG problems and I am NOT making light of that. That’s not the point I’m making at all.
What I’m saying is, I think people get offended by something in their religion or their church or the faith they grew up in – and because of that one thing or maybe more than one thing – they throw it ALL out – all of it. Leave the church. That’s it. All the good things that the church has to offer, all the good the church is – it’s all out the window – because of something they don’t like. That’s throwing out the baby with the bath water.
So why am I saying that to you? You know whenever I say any of these things to you it’s because I’m saying them to myself. So why am I saying it to us? We’re the ones who HAVEN”T thrown out the baby with the bath water.
I’m saying it because I think we have to be able to see what’s going on – recognize what’s happening and be able to deal with it ourselves.
Because there will be things – if there aren’t already – that WE don’t like – about the church, about our religion, about anything in the world – and we want to know how to deal with them WITHOUT throwing the baby out with the bath water.
We have to know what we want to do and what we want to say in those situations where we are with people who are mad at something or object to something and have thrown out the baby with the bathwater – because of that. There are people like that all around us – and there are becoming more and more and more of them – some of them are our own children – our own families – our own grandchildren.
We have to know how to stand there, knowing what we love about the church, knowing the personal encounters we have had with God, remembering the bazillion times God has answered our prayers – and hold on to that – and at the same time – continue to be kind and loving and courteous to people who don’t agree with us. Hold what we believe – and at the same time – continue to be kind and courteous and caring.
In that way we can be an example to people who are about to throw out the baby with the bathwater – or already have. We have to be able to say – I don’t agree with you and I don’t like your ideas about that – but I like YOU! I don’t agree with you but I see what you are trying to defend, I understand. I see the point you’re making.– I just don’t see it that way. We have to learn how to be kind and appreciate that people as God’s children just like we are.
What Jesus calls us to is metanoia. Change our minds. That’s what that really means. We need to be people who are trying to do that – trying to change our minds – and some of that mind changing has to be about people and their decisions and their ideas – when they don’t agree with ours – and learn to hold two opposites — and yet keep our peace.
And not just in the church or about religion. Look at our government. Nobody seems to know how to hold their own position and at the same time – LISTEN and be kind. How can there be any metanoia – if we can’t even LISTEN and be kind.
In this culture we live in we don’t have any practice at standing in the middle and keeping our peace. Everyone wants to be right. But if we are gonna call ourselves Christians, we have to learn to be kind and loving and forgiving. We have to be able to see all the good there is in working toward that, and we have to be able to show that to other people by our example. There is so much contention everywhere it seems, and we can be the ones who by our example show that you don’t have to be disagreeable to disagree.
A couple of weeks ago I said – maybe we should have a homework assignment – and you know that when I say that to you – it means I’m saying it to me. I said – the next time something hurtful comes along, see if you can do what Jesus did – take it in – and do not return it in kind. Instead, let something good come out – something loving or forgiving – something that’s not a retaliation.
And some of you have told me that you were trying that and it’s REALLY hard. It IS. And today brings us to another one that’s hard – the next time you disagree with someone, see if you can listen and be kind, say you don’t agree, say that you see what they mean – you understand what they are saying – you just don’t agree – but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you – or I don’t want to be around you – I DO.
Why would we do that? Why would we take that home and try to work on it? Because that’s what Jesus called us to do. Metanoia is hard. But isn’t that the kind of thing we come here for?
If this were a scripture study that doesn’t try to make personal application of the scripture – what good would that do? I heard a preacher once who called that kind of thing a hallelujah society – everybody sits around and says Oh sweet Jesus, O glory be to God, O thank you Jesus, O praise the Lord, but nobody does anything to change. Just come back the next week for more O sweet Jesus! O praise the Lord!
So. . . . Let’s be a real scripture study, where we really try to let the scripture into our lives. And we really try to let it change us.
Let us pray – Lord you have called us here today to be together and to study your word together. We have shared what you gave us when we answered our questions, and we have tried to make personal application of what this lesson holds. We see again today that following you is not easy, Lord, and it takes a LOT of practice. We ask you to send your Holy Spirit to do our homework assignments with us and we look forward to learning the ways you would have us change our minds so we can be transformed.
We pray this in the name of our Triune God – In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen and amen.