God's Beauty

Homily for Wednesday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time

One of the attributes of God that seems to go begging is the notion that God is not only omnipotent and omnipresent, God is also beautiful, physically and spiritually beautiful. That beauty is directly portrayed in today’s Scripture readings.

Moses comes down from the mountain. The people immediately recognized that his skin was radiant. He quite literally glowed so much that it became necessary for him to veil his face. The sacred author tells us that this glow or radiance was a result of seeing God face to face. The beauty of God so overpowered Moses that it shone in his face.

When choosing a psalm as a response to this reading, the framers of the lectionary chose Psalm 99, an enthronement psalm. These psalms were used by the children of Israel on the occasion of the anointing of a new king or on the anniversary of the king’s ascent to the throne. In this song of praise, the people are called to worship God in the Temple which by all accounts was itself a thing of beauty.

The Gospel for today’s liturgy presents us with the twin parables of the buried treasure and the pearl of great price. In human terms, most people spend their lives seeking beauty in its many manifestations. Once they have found that beauty, they commit themselves to it or to its pursuit. These parables speak to the pursuit of something beautiful.

In the case of Moses, God’s beauty so transformed him that it was difficult for the children of Israel to be in his presence. It would be easier to understand this if his faced had been disfigured or marred. However, just the opposite is true in this instance. God’s goodness, love, graciousness, kindness, and fidelity have been reflected in Moses’ face. The people realize that it will be difficult to anyone to live in such a way that they will be accounted as beautiful, and as a consequence they are filled with fear.

If Moses’ encounter with God on the mountain has so transformed him, how will our own personal encounter with God change us? The love and graciousness of God can also so radically change us that all who see us will know the source of our joy is the Lord.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator