Marisa Sacerdote rscj  |
Sixteen hundred years ago, the young St Augustine tried to hide from God among the things of the world, but everything he met pointed back to God.
I asked the earth and it answered, "I am not he", and everything in it said the same. I asked the sea and the deeps and the creeping things and they answered, "We are not your God, look higher". I asked the moving air, and the air and everything in it answered. "I am not God". I asked the heavens, the sun the moon and the stars, and they said, "We are not the God you are looking for". Then I said to all the things that pressed upon my senses: "You have told me that you are not God. Tell me something about him". And they cried out with a great voice. "He made us." I had questioned them with my thoughts and they answered with their beauty. (From the Confessions)
In these past few weeks I have seen two wonderful natural phenomena of creation, which certainly revealed God to me in their beauty. The first was while walking on Portmarnock strand. It was evening and the sun was setting. Suddenly as I looked out to sea the moon began to rise up out of the horizon, a full bright globe that seemed to have been born out of the sea and within minutes shone magnificently in the sky. The second occurred in Glendalough just two weeks ago. In the midst of the wind and rain I was walking high up above the valley and the two lakes. There came a few moments of sunshine and suddenly I was looking at a wonderful rainbow. I was level with the top of the rainbow and could see both ends drop down into two fields. It lasted about two minutes and then it was gone. Creation - our changing world, the changing seasons, the changing weather-with personal moments such as I describe above, can teach us to listen for and look for the moments, the revelations of God's presence in our daily lives. They may seem to pass quickly yet they can effect transformation in our hearts, and so in our lives. Several people who have seen the film "The Passion of the Christ" have spoken of how the 'flashbacks' which occur for both Jesus and Mary as they journey together to Calvary somehow give meaning and light to the immense physical and emotional suffering of the passion. We too have 'flashbacks', memories of graced moments, of light and insight in times of turmoil, resurrection moments in the midst of darkness and death. As yearly we move through the liturgies of Holy Week towards the joyful celebration of Easter and the summer renewal of creation, let us trust that we will find and see the many revelations of the Lord's presence with us in our daily lives and in the beauty of creation all around us. 0 God, walk the Spring road of my life and bloom deep within me. Water the garden of my heart with daily reminders of your presence. Bernadette McArdle rscj
Province of Ireland-Scotland
|
