Homily, 8-12-24; Monday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time:
In his book, Rome Sweet Home, Scott Hahn discusses his struggle with accepting the doctrine of Purgatory during his conversion process to Catholicism. But finally he was able to come to grips with the differences between the destructive power of fire in Hell, the purifying nature of fire in Purgatory, and the fire of God’s love in Heaven. He quips: “Heaven must be hotter than Hell.”
Today we heard Ezekiel’s vision of Heaven which also includes fire: “A huge cloud with flashing fire enveloped in brightness, from the midst of which (the midst of the fire) something gleamed like electrum.” And he gives us this description of God: “Upward from what resembled his waist I saw what gleamed like electrum; downward from what resembled his waist I saw what looked like fire; he was surrounded with splendor.” We once again have that image of God as fire, an image that can be found often in Scripture.
Yesterday, we heard Jesus say: “Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.” This is consistent with Old Testament tradition that no one could see God and still live. We who are living cannot see God, so we rely on images in our minds. We have clear images of the Jesus, the Son, in His human nature. Peter, James, and John saw Him in his glorified body at the Transfiguration. But for the Father and the Holy Spirit, and for Heaven itself, we have only symbolic representations. We cannot truly comprehend their glory with the constraints of our earthly knowledge. St Paul references the prophet Isaiah and writes: “But as it is written: ‘What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him.’”
This can give us great consolation and hope as we plod though life with all its challenges as we await being consumed by the burning love of the Holy Spirit, the love between the Father and the Son. We see dimly as in a mirror. We cannot see God, but we can see His actions and his works. When I go to our bee hives, I usually have great difficulty finding the queen; my eye is not well trained. But instead I look for evidence that she is there. If there is brood and larva and eggs, then I know the queen must be present, even if I can’t see her.
Likewise, while we cannot yet see God, we can know that He exists and is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving. We can know Him in the wonders of creation and in His power to sustain it. We can see His actions in the birth of a baby and the sprouting of the flower or a shoot of grain. Motivated by a strong knowledge of the existence of a God who loves us and wants us to be with Him forever, let us kindle a burning flame of desire within our hearts to be with Him; a flame that will one day be united with the flames of love in Heaven.