Using Our Senses to Understand God

Homily for Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Both of today’s readings give us concrete images to help us understand the depth of God’s love for us and the value of eternal life in God’s kingdom. It is difficult to grasp the worth of something that we cannot see or touch. Our senses are gifts from God, but we must go beyond those physical senses, using our minds and imaginations, or we will miss what God provides for us.

In the first reading, the face of Moses changes dramatically when he speaks with God. It is so brightly radiant that he has to cover it with a veil to talk to his people. Without this glow, the Jews might have thought Moses was imagining that he spoke to God, or worse, that he was fabricating everything he told his people. They could not hear or see God, so there was no way for them to verify that what Moses said was actually from God. Only when they saw his face glowing did they come to believe that God had actually spoken to Moses. When they recognize the effects of God’s presence on the face of Moses, in effect, they become part of the conversation.

We, too, are part of the conversation, for the Son of God has not just appeared to us, he has become one of us. He knows us and how the use of our senses enables us to perceive the truth he proclaims. The parables Jesus tells give his listeners some idea of the tremendous gift he is offering as he promises them eternal happiness in God’s kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus is present among us today in the Eucharist, in the word proclaimed, and in body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus in the elemental appearances of bread and wine. The Scriptures tell us in Psalm 34: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Jesus is the hidden treasure and pearl of great price. Jesus is the Father’s promise of eternal life.