Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082512.cfm

Tile image at Saint Meinrad Archabbey

Then I heard someone speaking to me from the temple,
while the man stood beside me.
The voice said to me:
Son of man, this is where my throne shall be,
this is where I will set the soles of my feet;
here I will dwell among the children of Israel forever.

Although popular religion often imagines God up in heaven, and popular philosophers suppose he has absconded, the scriptures consistently remind us of his nearness.

In Assisi a tourist can still sense the amazement that followed the career of Saint Francis. The artist Giotto captured that amazement in his frescos.

On one wall of the Basilica of Saint Francis are scenes from the life of Jesus; on the opposite are scenes from the life of the Saint. Until that time, Jesus, Mary and the saints were usually imagined in splendid luxury in heaven, seated on golden thrones and so forth. Christians prayed to the saints as the poor prayed to wealthy benefactors in this world. They hoped for the crumbs that fell from the tables, and the drink that trickled down.

Giotto imagined Jesus and Francis in this world; and Francis in particular right there in Assisi. To this day you can see the ancient Roman “Temple of Minerva” in Assisi and recognize Francis standing in front of that very temple in one of the frescoes.

Assisian pilgrims throughout the centuries gasp at the sight of holiness right here in our streets, market places, work places, and homes. There is The Saint stripping off his clothes, preaching to birds by an olive tree and kneeling before the broken down chapel of Saint Damien. He is not in faraway Jerusalem, distant Rome or Hogwarts Academy, but right here in town. Seeing the familiar sites in the Franciscan series of panels, it is not so hard to turn around and see the other frescoes. There is Jesus living, teaching, crucified and raised up in not so distant Israel. 

Of course that was also Saint Francis’ insight, especially as he celebrated the birth of Jesus in Greccio. Though he used only a bit of hay and some common farm animals, the people were astonished by its familiarity.

God’s nearness is a constant of the scriptures. Moses invited God to “go with us” as they carried the Ark of the Covenant from place to place. (Exodus 33:15) Saint Matthew taught us as much when he recalled the “throne name” of Jesus, Emmanuel: God is with us. As he ascended into heaven Jesus assured us, “Remember I am with you even to the end of the age.”

I know of a Minnesota bishop who, when told he had terminal cancer, replied, “God is here.” 

We might not recognize God’s presence in all the frightening, reassuring and mundane events of our life, but we have only to invite him to take up residence in our hearts:

Son of man, this is where my throne shall be,this is where I will set the soles of my feet;here I will dwell among the children of Israel forever.