Theophany is a wonderful word with a truly deep meaning. It simply means a visible manifestation of God to mankind.
In the Old Testament these theophanies of God were described with great picturesque detail of earth shaking, fire falling, smoke gathering and mountains quaking. They leave a lasting imprint on the human mind, in the human memory so much so that they could be easily recalled and not so easily forgotten.
God wanted to get our attention, hold our attention, and fix our attention so that we might live differently. Theophanies got man's attention so that God could then more readily give us something to think about and lead us to change our mind and even our way of life.
The Prophet Haggai describes this reality today for us, "I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake the nations and the treasure of the nations will come in, and I will fill this house with glory."
And the people wait with great expectation for the Glory of God to fall upon man in one moment, yet a little while.
The temple became the "place of peace" that was an encounter with God's presence, a meeting place, a gathering place.
Then Jesus describes of course the ultimate theophany, the ultimate shaking of creation, shaking of mankind: "the son of man must suffer greatly and be rejected, and be killed an don the third day be raised."
In the crucified face of Christ God reveals his presence most perfectly; a visible manifestation of God's glory shown to man. The silence of the cross becomes the great theophany of God's love made sensible to us all.
The cross and resurrection now become the place of peace for "God reconciled the world through the blood of the cross."
This paschal mystery is the great theophany, a theophany that is revealed each time we celebrate the mass. The Eucharist becomes that new place of peace, the new shaking of the world, that new theophany each and every time. And we are invited to enter into this meeting place and allow the glory of God to fill us and transform us.
Do you feel the earth shake, the heavens tremble, the nations creek when you look and enter into the mass.
You should!
Of course it all depends on how you answer the question, "who do you say that Jesus is?"
No comments:
Post a Comment