Here is a summary of my homily this morning.
Our God invites us into a relationship with him, an intimate relationship. He invites us to be close to him, to touch him, to approach him. Unlike the years gone by when the Israelites were making their Exodus and were forbidden to even touch Mt. Sinai, and were terrified by the presence of God on that mountain such that only Moses could approach God and be intimate with him, ever since the Incarnation, God has invited us to be close to him, to touch him and to have no fear, as we read in our first reading this morning from the Letter to the Hebrews.
Those of us here this morning, most of us daily communicants, approach this altar each day and we receive and touch our Lord who is God and we receive him into us. Not only that, but we are to recognize his presence in each of us who believe. Yes, God is present in our brothers and sisters of faith.
But with every invitation to intimacy there is vulnerability. There is the opportunity for Satan to induce us into sin and neglegence. We need to ask ourselves whether we approach God, here at this altar with a real awareness of his Presence, or do we approach him carelessly. We need to ask ourselves whether we approach each other reverently or carelessly. We who repeatedly are at the altar of God can easily lapse into neglegence and disrespect of God and each other.
I am reminded of a story my pastor has told of when he invited a Methodist pastor over to the parish church. As he was giving the tour, Father passed by the tabernacle and genuflected. The Methodist pastor asked him, “Why do you do that?” Father answered, “Because we believe that God is truly present in that tablernacle.” The Methodist pastor responded, “If I believed that, I would never get off my knees.”
He had a point.
I am not suggesting we never get off our knees, but we need to ask ourselves whether we respond to God’s invitation to closeness and intimacy with a sense of reverence or do we respond carelessly. Do we approach each other disrespectfully or do we approach each other reverently?
May we this day approach this altar with reverence and respect. May we approach each other with a reverence due the Lord himself!
