AWAITING THE FULLNESS OF HIS PRESENCE


TUESDAY, TWENTY SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

1 Thess 5:1-6,9-11; Ps 27:1,4,13-14; Lk 4:31-37

The Revelation of His Presence

Many of the Fathers of the Church explain the coming of the Lord in threefold terms: his coming in our nature at his birth as man, his coming in glory at the end of time, and his coming in grace, which is between the two comings. His coming in grace is the same as his coming in mysteries, for our Lord is hidden in his grace, which he offers us to aid us to walk the blessed way to heaven. Hidden in his grace, Christ is always with us, for his grace is available everywhere. We called our universe anointed yesterday because the Spirit of God animates everything in the universe and guides its operations for the fulfilment of God’s will. Similarly, we consider the universe as a graced universe, for the Eternal Word is present everywhere in the universe of things and reveals his truth and light through them. Thus, Saint Augustine explains that the coming of the Lord in grace provides a path leading from the first coming as man to his coming in the glory of his Father. Faith in his coming as man provides us the spiritual facility we need to walk the way of grace and truth, which is everywhere present to us. Our Lord feeds us with his truth in the universe he created for us, and in the scriptures he gave to us.  

The faithful learn the same lesson from the universe and from the word of God. Saint Paul, therefore, sees no need to write to the Thessalonian Christians about the coming of the Lord, because the Christian life prepares us for the glorious coming. “You will not be expecting us to write anything to you, brothers, about ‘times and seasons’, since you know very well that the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night.” His coming is like a thief in the night, only for those who are living in the darkness of ignorance of the truth of the Lord, which is present everywhere. If his presence in mysteries and in grace has illuminated our way and life, his coming would not be in the night for us, but in the day of his truth. Thus, Saint Paul continues: “But it is not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like a thief. No, you are all sons of light and sons of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness, so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide awake and sober.” Those not attending to the presence of the truth among us are considered sleeping because they are not awake, walking, and working in the daylight of truth. When we are asleep spiritually in a sinful life of faithlessness, we leave our house or land unattended and unguarded, such that the evil one enters to subdue us and plant his evil presence within our space or land.  

Without faith, it is impossible to walk the way of truth, which is present but hidden to ordinary human perception. The refusal to make an act of faith in the revelation of the truth is an act of acquiescence with powers of darkness. Our Lord revealed the presence of the dark forces among the people in demonstration of our understanding here. “In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’” When we believe in the revelation of Jesus Christ in grace and mysteries, we receive his light upon and within us to drive out the presence of darkness and its forces tormenting us. Truth always liberates, enlightens, and rebuilds us. Even now, in faith, we are walking towards the full day of eternity, which will be full when he comes in glory. Thus, the glory of his coming is already shining on our faces as we process our faith and celebrate his presence in grace and in the mysteries. As the psalmist affirms, the faithful live in the presence of the Lord always and yearn for the fullness of his manifestation. “There is one thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long, to live in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to savour the sweetness of the Lord, to behold his temple.” By tasting his presence every day in truth and in mysteries, we yearn more and more for him. “The Spirit and the bride say: Come, Lord Jesus!”

Let us pray: God of might, giver of every good gift, put into our hearts the love of your name, so that, by deepening our sense of reverence, you may nurture in us what is good and, by your watchful care, keep safe what you have nurtured. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.       

 

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