29 May 2019
Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
What kind of God do we worship? Who is this God that we offer our praise, our reverence, our service? Do we know the God who created the universe and who continually labors for its creative emergence and sanctification? We can put so many aspects of creation into the place of this God. Our work, our worries, our routines, sports figures, political figures, money, power, pleasure all can give the illusion of being a god that is worth our while to worship. St. Paul, in the first reading today confronts the people living in Athens during the first century about this same issue. What or who is the god you are worshiping? Paul found one altar amidst the many other altars in the Athenian temples that was dedicated to an unknown God. Paul points out the great significance of this altar to an unknown God in saying, “What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.” This God is our God too. This loving creator God is our Father. This unknown and invisible God is the God whom Jesus Christ is the perfect image. When we come to know Christ, when we imitate Christ through self-giving love, when we participate in the Eucharist and become a member of the Body of Christ, we do come to know this “unknown” God who is pure love. The Holy Spirit is sent to help in this process of coming to know God. May we praise, reverence, and serve this God through our love.