Encountering the Living God
3rd Sunday of Easter, 4/23/23
Helen Weber-McReynolds, RWCP
Acts 7: 54-8:3; Ute Prayer; 1 Peter 1: 17-21, 22-23, 25; Luke 24: 13-35
One summer when our kids were still grade-school aged, we went camping with several other families from church at one of the state parks. After dark one evening, one of our friends invited the whole group to come lie on the ground in an open field on some blankets. It was August, during the time when meteor showers are common. We all looked up, and were astounded at the huge number of stars we could see in the sky. Away from the city lights, on a nice clear summer night, it seemed like there were millions of stars, in all kinds of formations. We could see shooting stars, the Milky Way, and lots of constellations—it was much better stargazing than most of us had ever experienced. The kids were especially impressed. Reflecting on it afterward, we had all found the sky full of stars awe-inspiring. Many of us expressed having felt like we were encountering God in a new way. It seemed like God’s limitless creativity and power and love for us were shining down on us from the sky through the stars.
You may have had similar experiences, encountering God in a new way through the beauty or power of nature. These kinds of encounters can be both humbling and gratifying. They demonstrate how small we are in relation to God’s greatness, but at the same time, how much God values and treasures us, to bestow on us the beauty of these natural wonders. Pope Francis, in his encyclical Laudato Si, On Care for Our Common Home, regarding care for our environment, said that Creation is, “… a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of (God’s) infinite beauty and goodness.” If we combine this kind of powerful encounter with reflection on how interrelated everything and everyone is in the natural world, we begin to understand how each and every one of us can impact and must take responsibility to protect the Earth and all its creatures.
Our readings also describe some powerful encounters with God, both humbling and gratifying. Our first reading recounted Stephen’s vision of the resurrected Christ, as his life was ebbing away at the hands of an angry mob of religious leaders who were unwilling to acknowledge their own hypocrisy. Only Stephen was able to open his mind to perceive the reality of Christ’s resurrection, and the promise of our own.
In the gospel, the Emmaus travelers encountered the resurrected Christ just as powerfully, when they recognized him in the Eucharistic action Jesus had initiated, repeated right before their eyes. They began to understand that Jesus the Christ died, but lives, and calls all of us to resurrection with him.
Like Stephen, and like Cleopas and his companion on the Emmaus road, we are invited to encounter God everywhere and always: in nature, in the Eucharist, and in one another. As the author of the reading from the first letter of Peter advised us, “Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God… The mystery of the fullness of life is in the death and resurrection of… the Christ…” Let us continue on this journey together, endeavoring to always be open to encounter the living God, the power of love present all around us.
3rd Sunday of Easter, 4/23/23
Helen Weber-McReynolds, RWCP
Acts 7: 54-8:3; Ute Prayer; 1 Peter 1: 17-21, 22-23, 25; Luke 24: 13-35
One summer when our kids were still grade-school aged, we went camping with several other families from church at one of the state parks. After dark one evening, one of our friends invited the whole group to come lie on the ground in an open field on some blankets. It was August, during the time when meteor showers are common. We all looked up, and were astounded at the huge number of stars we could see in the sky. Away from the city lights, on a nice clear summer night, it seemed like there were millions of stars, in all kinds of formations. We could see shooting stars, the Milky Way, and lots of constellations—it was much better stargazing than most of us had ever experienced. The kids were especially impressed. Reflecting on it afterward, we had all found the sky full of stars awe-inspiring. Many of us expressed having felt like we were encountering God in a new way. It seemed like God’s limitless creativity and power and love for us were shining down on us from the sky through the stars.
You may have had similar experiences, encountering God in a new way through the beauty or power of nature. These kinds of encounters can be both humbling and gratifying. They demonstrate how small we are in relation to God’s greatness, but at the same time, how much God values and treasures us, to bestow on us the beauty of these natural wonders. Pope Francis, in his encyclical Laudato Si, On Care for Our Common Home, regarding care for our environment, said that Creation is, “… a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of (God’s) infinite beauty and goodness.” If we combine this kind of powerful encounter with reflection on how interrelated everything and everyone is in the natural world, we begin to understand how each and every one of us can impact and must take responsibility to protect the Earth and all its creatures.
Our readings also describe some powerful encounters with God, both humbling and gratifying. Our first reading recounted Stephen’s vision of the resurrected Christ, as his life was ebbing away at the hands of an angry mob of religious leaders who were unwilling to acknowledge their own hypocrisy. Only Stephen was able to open his mind to perceive the reality of Christ’s resurrection, and the promise of our own.
In the gospel, the Emmaus travelers encountered the resurrected Christ just as powerfully, when they recognized him in the Eucharistic action Jesus had initiated, repeated right before their eyes. They began to understand that Jesus the Christ died, but lives, and calls all of us to resurrection with him.
Like Stephen, and like Cleopas and his companion on the Emmaus road, we are invited to encounter God everywhere and always: in nature, in the Eucharist, and in one another. As the author of the reading from the first letter of Peter advised us, “Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God… The mystery of the fullness of life is in the death and resurrection of… the Christ…” Let us continue on this journey together, endeavoring to always be open to encounter the living God, the power of love present all around us.
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