Homily for Wednesday, 2 August 2017– Ferial

Wednesday of the 17th week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99:5, 6, 7, 9; Matthew 13:44-46

How do we experience what we call divine revelation, God making God’s self known to us? Can there be private revelation, in which God reveals himself to an individual or a group of people in such a way that people other than the individual or outside the group will never have the same experience? Maybe private revelation is possible, but our Church has usually been (I think rightly) skeptical of isolated individuals or groups of people who claim to have had experiences of God that most of the faithful do not or cannot have.

But what is divine revelation? The Latin-derived word “revelation,” and its Greek cousin “apocalypse,” which does not mean what many people think it means, as in a spectacular, Hollywood-worthy, flaming end to the world, literally mean an “unveiling.”

And we hear in our reading this morning from Exodus about an unveiling; not God unveiling himself, though, but Moses when speaking with God. Before the meeting between Moses and God we hear about today in which Moses unveils himself, we know of many instances of God revealing himself to Moses as well as to all the people of Israel he leads through the desert. In fact, our reading today from Exodus begins with Moses returning from atop Mount Sinai after receiving the Ten Commandments. There, one of the most famous instances of divine revelation became set on stone tablets, which God sent Moses down Mount Sinai to give to the people of Israel.

These people of Israel have a complicated relationship with God. Through several instances of God making himself known to them, directly or indirectly, through Moses, the people grow in trust of Moses and of God. They receive God’s Commandments. They disobey God’s Commandments; they sin and are forgiven. They continue their journey home to the land God has promised them. And yet today, when we might expect the people of Israel to share in Moses’ joy at his closeness with God (Moses is so overjoyed, Exodus says, that his face glows), they become afraid.

Because the people are afraid, Moses veils himself when he meets the people to speak with them, his face glowing whenever he has spoken with God. But when Moses speaks with God, he unveils himself; he reveals himself to God. Could we not interpret this as a gesture of trust in God on Moses’ part?

At least Moses is learning more and more to trust God. And the people in today’s reading from Exodus are still learning to trust God and to trust Moses. There are still instances when the people struggle to trust; when Moses needs to veil himself to speak with the people.

In light of this, a question to ask ourselves is: How well do we trust God? How well do we recognize and believe in divine revelation, God unveiling himself to us, when it occurs? And to what extent are we able to overcome our fear; to speak with God boldly and freely in prayer; to unveil ourselves? God reveals himself to us through Scripture, through the teaching tradition of the Church, through everyday events; encounters with other people; with other creatures; with God’s creation in its beauty. To what extent are we able to reveal ourselves to God?