The glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling

The glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling. 

Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Memorial)

For the Israelites, there was no missing the glory of God.   Once Moses was finished building God’s dwelling, a cloud came down from the heavens and settled over it.   The cloud even burned with fire in the dark of night.

That may have been true for Moses and his people, but for the most part, God’s glory—his greatness, his power, his love, his beauty—is more veiled.   Even many people in Jesus’ time had trouble seeing it.   On the surface, Jesus looked like any other man.   But for those whose hearts were open, God’s glory was evident in his miracles, his teachings, his love for the outcast and wounded, and especially his death on the cross.

It might be hard to believe, but because Christ lives in you, so does his glory—even as it lives in everyone who is striving to follow him.   In a 1942 talk entitled “The Weight of Glory,” the British author C. S. Lewis said, “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses . . . , for in him also Christ truly hides—the glorifier and the glorified, Glory himself.”

How easy it can be to miss this glory!   How easy to let people’s weaknesses or failings—or our own, for that matter—cloud our vision!   But it doesn’t have to be that way. Jesus wants us to see him and his glory.

So be on the lookout for the glory of God today.   It won’t be as clear as that cloud that led the Israelites, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.   You might see it in a fellow parishioner who is collecting food for a homeless shelter.   You might see it in your neighbor who lovingly cares for her disabled husband.   You might even see it in yourself when you readily forgive your spouse or when you step out in faith and offer to pray with someone.

On the surface, we are all ordinary, fallen human beings.   But how wonderful it is that God’s glory is in and around us!

“Lord, show me your glory!”

Word Among Us