what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure,
as he is pure.
Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the hope they might
be “like gods, knowing right and wrong.” Saint John promises we shall be “like
him, for we shall see him as he is.” That surely would be knowing what is right.
Knowledge is sacred; the aspiration to knowledge is not
evil. It can be misguided as Genesis makes clear. Human beings want to know
where we came from and where we are going. We want to know the One of whom we
are born, our Progenitor. Created in that image we will not know ourselves
until we have seen God. Nothing could be more natural than that desire.
The passion for knowledge is a kind of eroticism. It is
intense and insatiable. Knowing, it wants to know more. We want to know the
universe in which we live, from the most distant stars to the nearest atomic
particles to the complexities of the human brain. We want to know the Artist whose
artistry confronts us at every turn.
Everyone who has this hope based on him makes
himself pure, as he is pure.
The pulp fiction writer Raymond Chandler, in his essay The Simple Art of Murder, describes the
purity of the wisdom seeker. Despite the apparent cynicism of Philip Marlowe,
there is purity in the character who only wants to know who killed whom, and
why. He is willing to risk danger and death, jail and beatings, humiliation and
bewilderment to learn the truth. With neither family nor home, he cannot be
compromised by threats. Occasionally the PI’s employer, realizing that the search
has turned in an unexpected direction, cancels the contract; but Mr. Marlowe
must pursue the trail of clues to its dreary end. He cannot live without
knowing the truth.
On this Solemnity of
All Saints we celebrate the real people, as opposed to fictional sleuths, who
made themselves pure and lived in truth. Not one would say the path is easy;
nor would any boast of the achievement. They know their craving for knowledge is
that undefiled impulse of the Holy Spirit which gives the Son to the Father and the
Father to the Son. They found the Mysterious Trinity of God within their hearts
and they honored it in the Church.
This Solemnity belongs to all the saints, including you and
me, as we journey to God. Dear Lord, give us that purity of heart which draws
us irresistibly to you.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.