"The Temple Filled with the Glory of the Lord" (Ezekiel 43: 1-7ab)

 In today's first reading, Ezekiel 43: 1-7ab, the prophet shares a vision  he has of "the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east."   Every  morning, the sun rises from the east. Is God not hidden in the sun, as He is hidden in the consecrated host, I wonder!  Ezekiel goes on to share more of the vision, saying:   "I saw that the temple was filled with the glory of the Lord."  In our baptism, we died and rose with Christ and were transformed into the Temple  of  God.  The Spirit of God dwells within our very beings and, yes,  we are "filled with the glory of the Lord."  Our eyes are veiled so we do not see that glory but it is no less real, as real as the sun shining but not seen because it is hidden by clouds!
In the last lines of today's first reading, Ezekiel hears a voice saying to him:  This "is where my throne shall be, this is where I will set the soles of my feet; here I will dwell among the children of Israel forever." Yes! God dwells here on earth with us forever, as He promises His disciples right before He is ascended into heaven: Behold,  "I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Matthew 28: 20).
Where is God? Right here, standing before you and beside you. Right here, closer to you and me than our breath! Right here, living within your very being! "Where am I when you suffer," God asks? "I am suffering with you! That is where I am! Where am I in this coronavirus pandemic?  I am in it with you, struggling, as you do, to eradicate this plague from the earth! I am suffering, crying, weeping, struggling with you do! We are one!"
Why don't you, God, take it away?  You are God!  "I am not a magic wand that you can wave over the pandemic and it is gone.  No, I am God Incarnate, God-with-you, God-in-you! I am your Strength and your Light, your Wisdom that guides you in how you cope with this plague and what you do to limit its spread!Trust Me! Rely upon Me! Know your dependence, your vulnerability, your need of me and live wisely, humbly and lovingly!" 

God Is an Imminent God, an Approachable God, a Caring God

In today's gospel, Matthew 14:22-33, Jesus asked the the disciples to precede him to the other side of the sea, while he stayed behind to dismiss the crowd of over 5000 people that had just been fed with a miraculous multiplication of five loaves and two fish.  Several miles out on the sea a treacherous storm hits the boat with waves powerful enough to sink it.  Struggling to stay upright, the disciples notice someone walking on the waters and coming toward the boat. They are terrified.  Could it get worse than it is, they must have wondered. Then, Jesus says to them: "Fear not, it is I". Peter immediately says to Jesus: "If it is you, Lord, bid me come to you on the waters".  And Jesus says: "Come." Peter bravely gets out of the boat and walks on the water toward Jesus. The winds are strong and Peter, overcome with fear, takes his eyes off Jesus. Focusing on his fear, Peter begins to sink and cries out: "Lord, save me". Jesus stretches forth his hand and pulls Peter up, saving him from drowning.

You and I are like Peter at times. It is so easy to focus on our fears, to take our eyes off of Jesus. We can then get tangled up in our problems and, as our frenzy increases, we sink further and further into the "churning waters."  Waters are certainly churning in our world today and the storms are predicted to intensify: the storms of the coronavirus, the political storms, the protests against wearing masks, the stormy debates about returning to person-to-person learning, opening more and more businesses, the  avoiding large crowds and on and on! Storms may be raging in our families, our communities, our churches around any one of these issues or others causing fear among us.

I believe that whatever is happening in our world is a means of learning. What lessons do I need to learn from the chaos around me and within me? What steps do I need to take to regain a sense of balance in my life, to deepen my faith, to strengthen my trust in an imminent God, a caring God, an approachable God, a God who draws near to me on the stormy seas of my life this day?

"Fear not," Jesus says to me. "It is I; come to me!"

"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him" (Mt 17: 1-9)

Today's Gospel, Matthew 17: 1-9, relates the story of the Transfiguration. "Jesus took Peter, James and his brother, John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them;  his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him."  Peter says to the Lord: "'Lord, it is good that we are here.  If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' While he was still speaking, behold, a  bright cloud cast a shadow over them,then from the cloud came a voice that said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."

Scripture scholars tells us that Jesus, Moses and Elijah were talking about Jesus' impending death. Jesus was being prepared for His crucifixion and passion. Was that "the shadow" that broke up the brightness of the transfiguration?  Not only was Jesus being prepared for going up to Jerusalem, so, too, I believe, were Peter, James and John, by being told: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."  None of us will escape going to our "Jerusalems," our "crucifixions and death but, like for Jesus, death will not have a last word but is only the gateway to eternal life!  Like with Peter, James and John, we, too, need to keep our eyes on Jesus, walk up the "mountain" with Jesus and "listen to him."

Peter was not particularly into listening to Jesus, however. Here on this mountaintop, Peter wanted to "make three tents": one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!  Peter saw himself as the one in control. But no way was Peter in charge. It was not God's plan that Peter stay on the mountaintop. He had to come down to real life, face the turmoil within Israel, the threats against his master's life, and Jesus' determination to go to Jerusalem, where He knew the leaders of the nation were on the lookout for Him. They wanted Jesus put to death, as they were jealous of Him and perceived Him as a threat to their power. Jesus knew that but that knowledge did not deter Him from going to the city to celebrate the Passover, a holy feast for the Jews, remembering the night death passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and Moses led them through the Red Sea and through the desert to the Promised Land. The Passover Jesus would celebrate was His triumph over death via His resurrection on Easter morn and our future passing through death via our resurrection into heaven, as we, too, are God's beloved sons and daughters, in whom God is well pleased.

God's Ways Are Not Our Ways

In today's first reading, Isaiah 41: 13-20, Isaiah continues to prophesy about the Messiah, the One who God sends "to thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff."  As we face mountains of violence in our world and sin within and around us, we may wonder where God is. What a mystery that God enters this world in the darkness of the womb, in the darkness of night, in a manger among cattle, as a helpless infant. Or is an infant helpless? The hearts of "giants," of proud, cold, heartless men and women melt in the presence of an infant. Infants change men and women into compassionate, loving, caring adults. Lives, sometimes centered on self alone, suddenly or gradually become more concerned about the well-being of another--a helpless, dependent child--than their pursuit of riches, or material things, of catching up with the Joneses of our society, of being proud owners of luxury items, and so on and on into infinitude.  Parents of helpless infants learn to live for others, to put others first, to spend their lives in love!

O the Wisdom of our God! We learn how to live according to God's will God from weak infants, needy children and adults and our own neediness. We learn to seek God in the dark moments of life and when encountering a weakness that has the power to awaken us to our need for God. We also learn to seek God above all else when we find ourselves in the deserts of life from which  we cry out in thirst. Are we seeking God when we encounter these human realities?  God's heart pines for us to know Him.  In this passage from Isaiah God says to us:  I, the Lord, will answer [you]; I, the God of Israel [put the name of your city, your village, your nation here], will not forsake [you]. I will open up rivers [of grace, of divine power] on the bare heights, and fountains in the broad valley [of your life]; I will turn the desert into a marshland, and the dry ground into springs of water. I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle and olive; I will set in the wasteland the cypress, together with the plane tree and the pine, that [you] may see and know, observe and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel [put the name of the place where you live] has created it." 

Everything in life is meant to show us God's power to "thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff." Do we wait upon the Lord to do this or do we take things in our own hands? In our frustration, do we play God?