God waits, inside a piece of bread and a sip of wine, inside a darkened box inside an empty church…
I have been reflecting about God. God is hidden in the Eucharist.
And I have been thinking about why?
Why does God Himself hide in a piece of bread and a sip of wine? Why not stand there in the Church in all His glory so that we really can believe in Him and see Him for what He really is?
And I realised why… All these years that I have been thinking that God hides Himself in a bread and wine for HIMSELF, I have been all wrong and backward.
God does not hide Himself and all His glory in a bit of bread and a bit of wine for His own benefit. He does not stay inside a darkened box – the Tabernacle – inside an empty Church, every single day of the week for His own sake…
No. God hides Himself inside a bit of bread and a sip of wine for my sake – and for yours too. God hides Himself so that I will not be afraid to approach Him. He makes Himself small so that I can feel big enough to talk to the ALMIGHTY CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. And that is not for nothing…
And I know this because this is God’s mode of operation. This is how God speaks to us and has spoken to us all along…
Twenty centuries ago, this is what He did…
“John, calling to him two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord, saying, ‘Are you He who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ And when the men had come to Him … Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.’” (Luke 7:18b-23).
Here Christ did not throw an answer into the faces of those disciples of Saint John the Baptist. Instead, He allowed the actions to speak to them. He allowed them to make the discovery of His glory themselves…
They basically deduced it – they figured it out!
When, Saint Simon Peter said to Christ, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”, Christ said… YES! When the High Priest asked Christ if He was the Son of God or Pilate asked Him if He was a King, Christ answered in the same way… “You said it!”
You see, ours is a God of compassion. And He is a HUMBLE GOD. And that means that He does not throw His glory in my miserable little face. Instead, He waits, inside a piece of bread and a sip of wine, inside a darkened box inside an empty church. And He waits there just for me – so that I will not be scared to pay Him a visit.
And when I think about this discovery today, I am ashamed that I do not spend more time with my Beloved, just because He hides in something that looks like it is so much less than me…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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