Monday, August 18, 2014

Monday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A - August 11, 2014

Monday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time

August 11, 2014   6:30am


Today’s readings kind of complement one another.
They give us two fundamental and very important perspectives about God.

Ezekiel in the first reading tells of a vision he has been given of God.
It is almost as if he is straining to say something intelligible about the indescribable God.
He keeps using words like resembled, or had the appearance of, or looked like.
In effect, Ezekiel is telling us how transcendent and beyond us God is.
We can never fully capture God in our words and concepts.
God is mystery and is the Almighty One.

Then, in the gospel, Jesus gives us the complement to that.
He shows himself, and therefore God as sensitive to peoples’ sensitivities.
He shows God as gentle and considerate.
He shows God as using his power for our healing and wholeness.
He shows God as identifying fully with us and even being one with our humanity.

So, the two readings together give us a balanced sense of God:
that God is transcendent, almighty, and mystery,
and that God is also incarnate, human, and close.

Tucked in these passages is this good lesson of theology and faith.