Our first reading this weekend from the prophet Jeremiah begins with an auspicious revelation from God: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you.” In modern, non-Christian thought, it is not possible to be known until there is a person to be known. But English translation does not do justice to the specific Hebrew words found in Jeremiah. The original word for “formed” suggests the work of a potter who conceives the image of his creation before fashioning it. The word for “knew” does not describe intellectual knowing, but an intimate relationship. The revelation in Jeremiah is profound because it personalizes God (the I) and every one of us (the you). Viewing God as a person is radical to other faith traditions, but it is central to Christianity as Jesus, who is God, a divine person, is also a human person. The Word made Flesh becomes one of us so that we can become one with God.
Many of my friends are “unchurched” although not hostile to the idea of church. I notice this so often in our Facebook conversations. If someone is sick, even seriously ill, some offer to pray for them. A larger number of people avoid religious language and say something like, “I am sending warm hugs” or “I am sending warm vibes.” Who knows what these phrases mean? What is a virtual warm hug? What are virtual warm vibes? They are words of comfort, but they do not convey the same action as prayer.
The “unchurched” are not atheists. For the most part, they are ambivalent about God. They are quite unlikely to see or believe God is a person. Some are more comfortable saying God is a “higher power” or “energy.” What is meant by that? How can a higher power who is not a person be higher or powerful? How can energy (which at best is a thing) have power outside of itself?
The Eucharist we receive at Mass is the person, Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. He is no higher power, and he is not energy, and you won’t find him with warm hugs or warm vibes anywhere in Scripture. God is the great “I am” – the person in whose image all other persons are made. We need to believe those lovely opening words: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you.”
Fr. Gary
