Who is this God?

O splendid Giver of the light,

Though darkness covered earth before,

Now that the gloomy night has passed,

Thy brightness fills the sky once more.

Thou are the world’s true Morning Star,

Not that which dimly in the night

Is herald of the dawn to come

And shines with only meager light.

But brighter even than the sun,

The clearest Light and Day thou art,

Enlightening with blazing rays

The inner depths of mind and heart.

(Lucis largitor splendide, St. Hilary of Poitiers, 4^th cent.)

2024 is nearly half-over already! In the temporal reality of daily life, the winter blues have dissipated and spring fever has hit. The beauty and majesty of spring weather remind us of the power and might of God. The wind crashing the waves of the sea, the once-dry-land-now-marshes created by torrents of rain, cyclones devastating entire towns…all serve to remind us we are not the ones in control of the cosmos. We must live the day which God has given us, ascertaining His will for it and navigating around any evils that present themselves. Remembering that He permits those for a greater purpose itself gives us some direction on how to handle them. Some evils cannot be avoided. Of those that can, He may want us to walk into that storm (temporal or spiritual) in order to help those caught up in it. Or He may lead us through it so we can see that, when dependent upon Him who can pass through an angry crowd unscathed (Luke 4:30), the harm which threatens us will fall by the wayside.

“I, Jesus, sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star.” (Revelation 22:16)

This is the spiritual reality within which we live, survive, and thrive. In the sky and in our heart, dark clouds beckoning to threaten our existence play a sort of tug-o-war with the sun, of whom we catch glimpses just often enough to give hope for the calm to come. This is the morning Son, the Daystar, promised to us. It is the same One Who died for us, whose soul was separated from His dead body while united still in His Divinity. The One Who descended to Sheol to release the just souls from the bosom of Abraham (Matthew 27:52-53; Ephesians 4:8-10) and on the third day arose in His glorified body, later to bring that body into Heaven seated at the right hand of our Father. And He is the same One who transforms a small piece of bread into Himself for us to bring into our bodies and souls in a manner that only the uncreated Creator can do.

This is our God.

This Sunday, we celebrate Him in a special way with our Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ. When we prepare ourselves outside of the mass, we are disposed to the sanctifying grace of the Eucharist in mass. This cooperation with grace is the holiness lived by the saints. We come to understand that the Corpus Christi procession of walking around the neighborhood with the monstrance isn’t a symbolic ritual. It is blessing the creation before our eyes. If people were healed in the mere shadow of St. Peter (Acts 5:15-16), how much more can the soul be healed in the real presence of God? The Morning Star becomes alive in our heart.

To the victor, who keeps to my ways until the end,

I will give authority over the nations.

He will rule them with an iron rod.

Like clay vessels will they be smashed,

just as I received authority from my Father.

And to him I will give the morning star. (Revelation 2:26-28)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam 😊

(Image by Daniel Merlea via Unsplash)