Zechariah 2:9 “I will be an encircling wall of fire for it—oracle of the LORD—and I will be the glory in its midst.”
Zechariah 2:14 “ Sing and rejoice, daughter Zion! Now, I am coming to dwell in your midst—oracle of the LORD.”
Every time I go to Church and receive Holy Eucharist in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, I get that presence that Jesus in dwelling in our midst. Most of you would agree that is what happens to you. It is not always at work or dealing with things like the weather and the world in general but at Church there is the real presence of God but not in the world. Why? Jesus was preaching and healing in the presence of His believers but He knew that the world would close in on that peaceful situation when He predicted His death. There would be no peace in the world until He sacrificed His life to redeem us from sin.
In Luke 9:44-45 “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.”
Jesus was dwelling in their midst proclaiming the Kingdom of God was at hand and no one saw it because the meaning of things is hidden from all of us sometimes.Luke 17:20-21 “Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”
I went to the grocery store before the hurricane Irma hit Florida. I ran into two old friends and greeted them and wished them well during the storm. A common tragedy can turn something bad into a happy circumstance. Maybe Zechariah’s vision is telling us that even in the most dire circumstance the Lord is there in our midst. Sometimes we do not see Him but He is there.
Sometimes we do things we do not really like doing. I have been working in a call center for over 6 years. It is not easy or pleasant all the time. We just learned that while the company will go on the call center will close as of November 8th. About 50 people will loose their jobs. I believe that God had a reason for me being there. I can see God dwelling in our workplace with Lucy who has a daughter with special needs and Victoria who is undergoing Chemo for breast cancer. Lots of needs but Christ is in our midst because we see Him when we encourage one another.
Today’s readings opened my eyes. We need to look for the Glory of God dwelling among us. We, also, need to look and appreciate that wherever we are He is also. It is not just in Church but everywhere. I think that we as a world society would act more different to a street person, a neighbor or another country, if we acknowledge the presence of God in our midst all the time. Just a thought. God loves you and so do I.
God Bless
Bob Burford
Readings : Zechariah 2:5-9, 14-15A; Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12AB, 13; Luke 9:43B-45
