In February 2016, thousands of people lined the streets of Rome to witness the procession of the bodies of two saints – Padre Pio and Leopold Mandic – on their way to St. Peter’s Basilica where they would be on public display. Thousands more came in the following days.
Why did they come? Were they simply driven by the spectacle of the large crowds? Maybe it was morbid curiosity … did they want a peek at the bodies? Perhaps they believed they were pleasing God by showing up?
I think there was something deeper happening on those crowded streets. Something we have been doing as a people for many, many generations.
I believe so many showed up because they wanted to see the power of God. They wanted to witness the miraculous. The stories of Padre Pio, who died in 1968, were still fresh in many minds, particularly his stigmata and his powerful confessions, where people felt he could read directly into their hearts.
On the streets of Rome, these faithful pilgrims wanted to get close enough to “touch the cloak” of the immense glory our creator made present in the workings of his saints – in hopes that a tiny bit would rub off, like a burning ember on our lips, to purify them and make them ready to meet their maker.
We’ve been doing this for a long, long time. Today’s readings for mass gave us a taste of that passion for the presence of God.
All the people gathered. They stood in awe and waited to see the power of God with their own eyes. (Sounds familiar to anyone who goes to Mass, eh?).
The gospel of Mark tells us today about Jesus, our Lord personified. Even though it would take many years to understand just who Jesus was – God made man; Father, Son, Holy Spirit in one – the crowds of his time knew that whenever He was around, the power of God was going to be present, mostly through healings and teachings.
“After making the crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there. As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.”
The power of God on display. A chance that some of it might rub off on those who come and see. Who would miss that opportunity?
But let us ponder …
Why must we do this? Why must we act like “groupies for God” and gather in crowds to witness something we can experience any time?
It is true that God has always been present … he is, was and will be. But we are humans, limited in our senses and always searching to encounter the Lord in special ways.
Where do we run to find God, the Holy Spirit, today?
Is it in the peace of nature – a walk in the woods, a chair by the pond, sunrise, sunset?
Is it in the violence of nature – the bolts of lightning, the cracks of thunder, extremes of heat and cold?
Maybe it is in the encounters we have with other living beings – the song of the bird, the buzz of the bee, the affection of our cats and dogs.
Then there are the others – our families and friends, our strangers who come to us without warning but who may say or do something that might change our lives forever.
God can be present in so many ways … in all ways.
And yet, we search for new and better opportunities to encounter Him. It might be the silence of an Adoration chapel or some intense prayer in a hospital chapel. We may pray our devotions and attend our Liturgies.
We may go on retreat and seek to escape our busy lives in hopes that God will reward us with a deeply spiritual experience.
I believe that is why we travel to the holy land or the sites of Marian apparitions. It is why we do long desert retreats or short silent weekends. It is why we crowd the streets of a city to see the Pope or to see the bodies of saints in procession.
We are always looking to be witnesses to the power of God. And we strive to feel some of that power in our own hearts and souls.
A power of protection, healing and nourishment. A power that will sustain us on our journey to everlasting life.
And yet, it is a power that is always present – especially in the Eucharist. We need only to be diligent, awake and eager. We need to keep our eyes open and our ears tuned into the messages that God shares with us every day.
And when we hear that the power of God is near … well, I say we drop what we’re doing and run to Him.
What else could you want? Where else could you go?
