19th Sunday in OT 2020 - Experiencing God in the heights, depths, quiet, anguish and at Mass

Thursday, the Church celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration, a story which was very important to the early Church, for it appears in all four Gospels. And we’re pretty familiar with the story, too. We hear it proclaimed at Mass ever year during Lent, usually during Ordinary Time at some point, and then, of course on the Feast of the Transfiguration. The Lord leads a select few of his apostles, Peter, James, and John up the side of the mountain, and there they encounter Christ radiant in divine glory. We can picture this dark mountain-top, and then all of a sudden, in the pitch-black darkness, brilliant light emanates from Jesus, his clothes becomes dazzling white, brighter than anything on earth, and then the voice spoke from heaven, this is my son, listen to him. This theophany made it undeniable to the apostles that Jesus is truly the Son of God. And that’s how must of us experience Jesus, right? Well, no…not exactly. We’d like to. There’d probably be a lot fewer atheists in the world if the Lord could be glimpsed in all his divine splendor on the top of some mountain. 

Now, some of the saints did encounter visions of Jesus robed in splendor. St. Catherine conversed with Jesus as a young girl. St. Teresa and St. Bridgit, St. Margaret Mary, St. Thomas Aquinas had mystical visions of Jesus, as did St. Francis of Assisi—he had a vision of Jesus when he received his holy stigmata, the wounds of Jesus in his own flesh.

But for the holy saints, did not need proof, or necessarily want proof, of God’s existence. Their faith was already greater than we can possibly imagine.  The heavenly vision usually meant for them, that they were being asked to accept some great suffering on behalf of the Church and for souls. So most of us, do not and will not experience God in this way, in some undeniable vision, like that of the apostles and saints.

Perhaps, our experience of God is a bit more like Elijah in the first reading—in a quiet whisper. The experience of God in a quiet place, for a Elijah, it was a cave. And even in this secluded place, the experience of God, for Elijah was not immediate. And at first there is a bunch of noise and bright light: wind, earthquake, and fire. But God isn’t found in the noise. Rather, Elijah detected the presence of God only when became quiet enough to hear the whisper of God’s voice. Certainly an important lesson for us: if we are yearning for some deeper experience of God, we need to become quiet. God Can be found. But he needs to be sought after in stillness, quiet, and silence.

Again, here is an important lesson, that every day, we need to set aside some period of quiet. Maybe before the kids wake up, or one’s spouse, before the hustle and bustle of the day begins. Or maybe we need to take a break in the middle of the day, in the middle of the work day, even, to make sure we don’t get caught up merely with earthly matters and neglect heavenly matters. To sit down with the bible on our lap—to read and listen for the whisper of God.

Or, maybe, our experience of God is more like Peter in the Gospel today. We are doing great, our eyes are fixed on Jesus, it’s like we’re walking on water. and then something changes. Maybe it’s fear, maybe it’s pride, “hey, I’m walking on water all by myself”. And then we begin to sink. But this story is so important because it says that we can experience God even when we are sinking into the depths, especially when we are sinking, we can experience God as savior, and cry out “Lord save me” and experience Him reaching out to us. Maybe we are sinking because our fears for the future are so overwhelming, or maybe we’ve sunk into the shamefulness of sin.

If you feel like you are sinking right now, or, you have sunk, you have fallen into something seriously sinful, I promise you, Jesus is extending his hand to you. The Lord is there, reaching out his hand, inviting us to Confession, or inviting us to hand over our anxieties. But you have to take. You have to accept that invitation to go to confession if you’ve sinned, or to trust in him, if you are overwhelmed with fear.

And maybe we fear grasping on to Jesus’ hand, because those murky waters are familiar. We fear grasping on to his hand because he will take it and lead us to somewhere we don’t think we are ready to go. But again, I promise you, allowing Jesus to lift you up out of the chaotic waters , to save you from drowning in complacency, or spiritual mediocrity, or shameful sins and habits, will make all the difference.

So that’s another experience of God, quite unlike the mountain top of the transfiguration. But, in the second reading St. Paul was having yet another experience of God, one that, I would say, is also, quite relatable. 

Paul, charged with preaching the Gospel, was in great sorrow and anguish because his family, his fellow Jews, were proving unconvertable—their hearts, just like his had been for a time, were hardened. Paul did not doubt the Gospel, he did not doubt the Lordship and divinity of Jesus, but his experience of God coincided with great grief over the unbelief in the world. He was in anguish over the eternal consequences for their faithlessness. Sound relatable?

I think it’s realistic to say that the faithful Christian is never really at peace. Yes, the peace of God dwells in us, but at the same time, we are never at peace, knowing that there are people out there, we do not believe, whose eternal salvation appears…at risk—who are at risk of damnation. That was Paul’s concern, that is our concern. And as our culture seems to be straying further and further away from God each day, our concern is great indeed.

But, like for Paul, that concern needs to motivate us to share the Gospel, to set good example for non-believers, that they may see the difference faith, hope, and charity make our life.

So, we’ve considered the mountain top experience of God, the experience of God in quiet whispers, the experience of God in lifting us out of the waters of sin and chaos, and also the experience of God in our concern for non-believers.

And here we are at holy Mass where all those experiences are combined and intertwined—aren’t they—as we hear the scriptures proclaimed, as we consider their meaning, as we offer our prayerful petitions for the needs of the world and the needs of the Church, as we experience the saving sacrifice of Christ on the altar, by looking to the altar.

Wee are so privileged here in this place to experience God in these many ways, particularly in the most profound way imaginable—through the Sacrament of Holy Communion he is made present, body and soul. We are able to have bodily contact with God made flesh, when we receive holy communion. He is the answer to all of our prayers, he is the grace we need for spiritual growth, he is the strength we need to remain faithful to God in the face of temptation and trials. 

May we approach the sacrament of communion today with great faith in the presence of Christ here in this place and with reverence, knowing that in the smallest particle of the consecrated host, the God of the universe comes to us, to make us holy, and to make us effective instruments for the spreading of the Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.