Eternal Life – Seeing and Hearing the Lord

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • St. Josaphat Formation Center, Phoenix, AZ

St. Paul describes our knowledge of God in this world as “seeing dimly as in a mirror” cf. 1 Cor13:12. Seeing God as in a mirror means that we can only see His reflection – in creation, in the works of grace, and in His personal gifts or actions in our own lives. The philosophers tell us that we come to know the cause by its effects. 

When Moses asks to see God, the Lord responded thus: “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim my name, “LORD,” before you; I who show favor to whom I will, I who grant mercy to whom I will. But you cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live. Here, continued the LORD, is a place near me where you shall station yourself on the rock. When my glory passes I will set you in the cleft of the rock and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand, so that you may see my back; but my face may not be seen.” Ex 33:19-23

“So you may see my back, where I have been and have passed by.” The Lord is indeed passing by and leaving signs of His presence constantly. It is up to us to catch them, to see them, to recognize them. God normally communicates by means of subtleties, for He was not in the wind, fire or earthquake, but whispering in the gentle breeze and thus Elijah hid his face and went out to meet the Lord who was passing by. cf. 1Kgs 19:11-13 We, therefore, have to be attentive to the movements of the Lord. It is easy to miss them, and many times we do, and wonder where is the Lord, why is He so silent and doesn’t He care about me and my problems? 

St. Ignatius insists on a daily exercise to briefly recall the movements of the Lord in our lives that day. The Examen prayer trains us to be attentive to the actions of the Lord Who is constantly at work among us and in all of His creation – “In every fraction of a second and every particle of an atom”, affirms the spiritual writer. That I try daily to recognize the Lord’s movements and messages, and especially His blessings in my life, will build in me an unshakable confidence in Him until we meet face to face. Pray for us O holy Mother of God, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.