God Reveals Himself

Despite our best efforts and intentions, we can never find God. No matter how hard we search, finding God is beyond our power. The only way to find God, is for God to reveal Himself to us. It helps if we are looking for Him, but we can’t do it on our own.

At that time, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Matthew 16.13-19

Today is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, leaders of the Apostles. The Gospel appointed for Divine Liturgy today ‘says it all’ when it comes to our effort to find God. “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” It can’t be any clearer.

Saint Peter had just confessed his faith and loyalty to Christ, whom He understood to be God. Saint Peter, the leader of the Apostles, would also later deny even knowing Christ during His trial.

Left to human understanding, we will always fall short of understanding God. On this Feast, having just completed the Fast of the Apostles, I invite you to ask God to inspire your faith to great faith than Saint Peter had. Invite Him to reveal His love and grace to you.

It is fitting that we just completed a three week fast, during which we were reminded that God is our provider. When we fast, if we fasted, we learned that we can’t have everything we want, no matter how we may try. That includes finding God.

You might wonder why God would ever hide Himself from us. Remember when He appeared to Cleopas and the road to Emmaus. (Luke 24) Even speaking face to face with Christ, it was only when Christ opened their eyes, they recognized Him. And that was AFTER the Resurrection.

If God chooses to hide Himself from us, again a lesson we learn from fasting, we must trust that He knows better than we know. Maybe in that moment we aren’t ‘in the right head space’ to recognize Him. Maybe He desires a deeper faith in our hearts. He knows better that we do.

If we can learn anything from the Faith of the Apostles, it is to trust that God will provide what we need when we need it. That includes our physical needs as well as our spiritual needs. I guess that is why rejecting Him is all the more dangerous.

When we reject God, we are rejecting His free gift. It would be one thing to reject something we earned. We didn’t earn finding God. The Apostles weren’t perfect. Saint Peter denied knowing Christ. But they were faithful when God revealed Himself to them. That’s a good lesson for us.