Made to Behold Him

A Reflection on the First Reading for August 25th, 2019:
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 66.18-21

Thus says the Lord: “For I know their works and their thoughts, and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. 

“From them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put, and Lud — which draw the bow — to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. 

“They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the children of Israel bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 

“And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites,” says the Lord.

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Having grown up Catholic, there are certain words and phrases that I take for granted. They are familiar to me, and I may think that I ‘get’ them, but I don’t often take the time to reflect deeply on their meaning.


In this first reading, I found myself asking, ‘what is the glory of God?’ 


In scripture He says to us, “I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory”. And again, “from them I will send survivors to the nations… to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations”


The word “glory”, from the Hebrew “kâbôwd”, can be interpreted as honour, splendour, abundance, heaviness, or weight. Knowing these alternative descriptors offers some perspective, but I find further peace and understanding in the Catechism.


In the section on our profession of faith, it unpacks the declaration, “I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth”. This section discusses how scripture and tradition teach us that God created the world, including each of us, for His glory (CCC 293-294). It quotes Saint Irenaeus, who said, “the glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God”.


If this is the whole reason we were created, our every day experience shows us that there is a disconnect. We do not always perceive God and His goodness in our daily lives, yet, being fully alive means to behold God — to be constantly in His presence, in His steadfast love.

"We do not always perceive God and His goodness in our daily lives, yet, being fully alive means to behold God — to be constantly in His presence, in His steadfast love."

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Therefore, the Church exists, and we have a mission. The glory of God is not realized while we are separated from Him in sin. We cannot increase or decrease His glory (who He is), but we can know the splendour of His love and become more fully alive in Him and it is His delight to get us to this place. This means that the Church must go out to all the nations, wherever God sends us, to share the truth of who God is so that others can behold Him. 


Another way to phrase what Saint Irenaeus said is, “the glory of God is Jesus Christ”. Jesus is the man who lived the fullness of what it means to be a human person on earth, and now in Heaven He perfectly beholds the face of God, His Father. God the Father provided for us the perfect model, and He invites us to imitate His Son so that we too can share in the glory of God for which we were created.


Holy Spirit, please help me better understand the Father’s glory, and grant me the grace to experience it more each day. Let me behold Him, and become who I am made to be. Amen.


Kendra Lang (She's a married woman now!)

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