In the Presence of God

The image that Job presents of God is awe-inspiring: “He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea” (Jb.9:8).

We are in the presence of the Master of the Universe even though we do not see Him. Unable to grasp the awesome grandeur, we worship and adore Him. As we bow down before the Divine Majesty, He stoops down from His cherubic Throne and raises us up.

Job reminds us that in the presence of the All-Holy One, no one is holy or pure. If we are permitted to stand upright before Him, it is because of His mercy and loving-kindness. God acts with power, which we know not. His love is everlasting. Like Job, we choose to believe in Him, even though everything we touch turns to dust.

The self-revelation of God to us is totally a gift. “By natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of his works. But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order of divine Revelation. Through an utterly free decision, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. This he does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all men. God has fully revealed this plan by sending us his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit” (C.C.C. #50).

Trust in the living God is the anchor of our souls. For this reason, we should seek the Presence of God in all things, good and bad; in all circumstances, favorable or painful; and in all people, likeable or distressing. We have been loved without measure, and we are to love without measure.

Only those who totally empty themselves in service of others, as Christ emptied Himself for us can enter the Kingdom. To follow the Lord is not to find earthly glory. To follow the Lord is to embrace the Cross, where the emperor has no clothes and the king has no place to rest His head. Only He Who is powerless and rejected by all has the power to win all of humanity for the sake of the Kingdom, making them Children of God. By being nailed fast to the wood of the Cross, Christ freed us to surrender to the Father’s will for us.

How awesome to think that we are loved, even though we do not deserve it. When asked to explain the mystery of redemption, all we know is that we have heard the call and responded to the promptings of the Spirit. The rest in in God’s hands.

--Father Jerome Machar, OSCO