Where Are You, God?

But the word of the LORD came to him,
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.

1 Kings 9:11-12

When was the last time you questioned the presence of God in your life? Questioning is not the same as doubting. When we question, we are usually doing so from a place of faith because we believe that God is here, we wonder why certain things have happened. “If God was here, why did my father have to die?” These are not cases of doubt, but rather invitations to a deeper faith. Elijah also wondered where God was, and the above passage from Scripture tells us clearly — in the “tiny whispering sound.”

Brothers and sisters, God does not come to us with a loud, booming voice. Rather, He comes to us in the silence. When we are unable to sleep in the middle of the night because something is on our mind, He comes to us. When we are agonizing over a difficult decision, He comes to us. When are suffering injustice and persecution silently, He comes to us. When we are lamenting and grieving over a tremendous loss, He comes to us. When we are walking along the street and enjoying the sun on our faces, He comes to us. When we are sitting or kneeling in Church praying, He comes to us. When we gaze upon the tabernacle or the Eucharist, He comes to us. At every moment when we call out to Him, He comes to us, in the silence of our hearts. “Here I am, my beloved. I am with you.”

Let us practice being in the silence today, brothers and sisters. Whether it be 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 or more minutes, let us allow the Lord to come to us by opening up our hearts to Him. So that when we ask, “Where are you, God?” we might hear that “tiny whispering sound” say to us, “Here I am, I am with you. Tell me, tell me all that is on your heart. Come to me, and I will give you rest.”

A Higher Calling

“Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.’”

Mt. 5:20

Have you ever been in a situation where you said to yourself, “Well so and so does it too” or “If it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.” In other words, how often have we found ourselves being content with mediocrity and the status quo? As Christians we are told that just following the letter of the law is not enough. It is not enough to just not hate our enemies, we must love them. As Christians we are called to a higher calling.

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus challenges the disciples to think outside the box, to shift their gaze from the mundane to the transcendent, and to go the extra mile and do the unexpected. It is not enough to not kill anyone, for even if one were to be angry at one’s brother to call him a fool “will be liable to fiery Gehenna” (Mt. 5:22). Sounds pretty extreme, doesn’t it? Does Jesus really mean if we are angry with our friend we will go to hell? The short answer is “Yes.” It is possible. If we remain angry in our hearts, and refuse to forgive and reconcile, we may go down a path that will lead to great sin. Jesus was trying to get to the level of the heart, telling us that simply following the law is not enough, is our heart in it? Where is our heart? If we are being honest, we have all sometimes said one thing but then feel something else. Maybe we appeared friendly but then inside we were secretly passing judgment on the other. Where is our heart?

Brothers and sisters, as followers of Christ, who is love itself, we have been tasked with a higher calling. We have been called to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. Is there someone who has hurt us and we have yet to forgive them. Let us ask the Father for the grace to live out this higher calling. This higher calling is a supernatural calling, so without supernatural means we will not be able to live it out. Fortunately for us, in Christ we have been baptized into His very life and have been infused with the supernatural virtues, giving us what we need to live out this most supernatural calling.

The True God

There are people or organizations out there that claim they can help you find fulfillment in your lives and sometimes in ways that seem interesting. Some believe in the power of crystals, others in horoscopes and astrology, and still others fortune tellers and psychics. As Christians we know that all those forms of “divinization” is not good, and sometimes that can even unleash evil spirits. But why do people turn to those things? Maybe they want concrete answers or certainty or assurance that things will go the way they would like them to. At the core of it all is a level of control over one’s life. When we turn to those things to seek answers and certainty we are turning to them as gods, but we know there is only One, True God.

Brothers and sisters, when we run into problems in life or are faced with difficult situations, to where or whom do we turn? Do we seek to solve things with our own hands or seek the help of other “higher powers?” It can be very easy for us to try to take matters in our own hands and trying to solve things with our own power, but sooner or later we will come to realize that we really cannot do it on our own. That is why we are part of the Mystical Body of Christ with Christ as Our Head. We must turn to Our Lord when problems arise and seek the help of our brothers and sisters who will encourage us and affirm us in the faith. The proverbial saying is true “A problem shared is a problem halved.” But it has its roots in the Scriptures: “Bear one another’s burden, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). As Christians we are called to bear one another’s burdens, to support one another along this journey of faith and pilgrimage to our heavenly home.

Too many of our brothers and sisters have turned to false goods, believing that material things and other spirits can help them achieve their ultimate destiny. It is our responsibility to remind them that there is only One God, the God who is Our Father, the One who has created us and has loved us from all eternity, and that He alone can give us the joy, hope, and peace that we so desire. Is there someone close to us who is hurting or who has turned to false gods? Let us pray for them first and then approach them with love, reminding them of the great love in, with, and for which they have been created.