With Wonder and Awe

When we see encounters described in the Old Testament, they’re always awe-inspiring and frightening. Think of Moses standing on Mount [Horeb] and seeing God’s presence in the burning bush and being scared (because he thinks he’s going to die) because he finds himself in the presence of God! Or during the Exodus when God led the Israelites in either a column of cloud or a column of fire. And when He spoke to them, they begged Him, “Never speak to us again directly, lest we might die.” And of course, the cloud that descended on the tent of meeting, and how frightening that was to enter - and then in today’s first reading, Abraham encounters God in that fire that passes between the two split carcasses, warning that if he were to break the covenant he would end up like those carcasses. 

On the other hand, when we look at encounters with God in the New Testament, we so often see it as an encounter with Jesus in His kindness, His gentleness, and His mercy. But today’s Gospel reading is a reminder that the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament, because Jesus on Mount Tabor, when He’s seen in His full glory and the cloud of God descends on the Apostles, we see the same reaction as we saw in the Old Testament. They were scared to death! I think so often as Catholic Christians, we tend to see our encounter with God too much as just meeting the kind and gentle and merciful Jesus. And we fail to remember that every encounter with God is also an encounter with the God of the Old Testament, and perhaps we should understand the term “fear of the Lord” a little bit better. 

We constantly have encounters with God, especially through the Sacraments. We enter the confessional for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or we come to Mass and we encounter God in the Eucharist - the most intimate meeting of God, but also a constant reminder that we are not worthy to be in His presence. 

Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. 

But every encounter with a kind, gentle, and merciful God is also an encounter with the Creator of the world, and perhaps we should be a little bit frightened. There’s a reason we kneel at the Consecration, because kneeling is a sign of worship, a sign that we are not on the same level as God. God is God; we are not. 

The question is, how do we respond to our encounter with God? In a way, that’s the point of our second reading (the letter to the Philippians) when St. Paul is telling the Philippians that some people, in spite of having met God in Baptism and Confirmation, have turned away. The encounter didn’t take. And he says [that] their god is their stomach and they are focused on earthly things rather than on the things of heaven. 

When I was reading this, I had a thought. The first Friday of Lent, we had a wonderful fish fry (and I want to thank everyone who supported the fish fry by going). But we also had Adoration, we had a Mass, and we had the Stations of the Cross, and I can guarantee you we had ten times as many people at the fish fry than there were for any of the other three things that happened in the church - the three things that allowed us to encounter God. Adoration is perhaps the most intimate way that we can encounter God, because God makes Himself present to us personally. He is there for you and for me. In Mass, as I’ve already mentioned, we come into the presence of God in spite of the fact that we’re not worthy - but we intimately encounter God in receiving Communion. And, of course, the Stations of the Cross when we are allowed to walk with Jesus on His road to Calvary and we are reminded of the cost of our salvation and we walk with Him. Now, we do this every Friday during Lent, and I challenge everyone to try to make at least one of them so we can perhaps change our priorities during this season of Lent. Because that’s the whole point of Lent: that we start thinking about heavenly things instead of earthly things and that we appreciate the fact that God allows Himself to come into our presence in spite of our unworthiness. 

Now, this Thursday the parish has its penance service and it is one of the great opportunities for us to encounter God personally, and for most of us, perhaps there is that sense of trepidation (and maybe even a little bit of fear) going to Confession. But it is also our encounter with that kind, gentle, and merciful God who wants us to be His children, who wants to encounter us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. 

Luckily, we’re not alone in sometimes thinking more of earthly things than heavenly things. On Mount Tabor, when the Apostles experience Jesus in all His glory, their first thought is “hey it’s the festival of booths; we should set up tents and celebrate.” Luckily, the Apostles didn’t stay on earthly things, otherwise we wouldn’t have a Church. But just like the Apostles, let’s use this season of Lent to think less of the things of this world and far more of the things of the next, and we can do that in every encounter that we have with God.

And Jesus, I trust in you. Amen.