During the Easter season we read at Mass different stories
describing how Jesus appeared to His disciples.
When considering these stories, we can ask, “but… how does Jesus appear
to me?” Even in the Gospels, we see that
there are variations in Jesus’ appearances.
Sometimes He shows Himself in a direct and bold way, like with Mary Magdalene
at the tomb or the apostles in the upper Room.
At other times, however, Jesus appears to people in a gentler, more indirect
manner. This was the case with the
disciples along the road to Emmaus. They
walked with Jesus and never knew it was Him until they finally recognized Him
in the breaking of the bread.
In the Old Testament, God intervenes in people’s lives in
two main ways, one forceful, the other less direct. When God revealed Himself to the prophets, He
did so in a powerful way. Think of Moses
at the burning bush or the dream of Isaiah when he was first called to be a prophet. They had no doubt that they met God. As a result of God’s powerful intervention in
their lives, they spoke His words to people in an equally bold and direct
way. They passed on God’s revelation in
the same way that they received it. In
what we call the Wisdom Literature (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Sirach and the
Wisdom of Solomon), however, we see a very different way of perceiving God’s
revelation than with the prophets. There
are no visions or fantastic dreams.
Rather, the sages who wrote these works began by observing nature and
human experience. Grounded in the belief
that all this was made by God, they were able to perceive an order in
creation. They then became convinced
that the best way to live was in accord with this order. In transmitting what they discovered to others,
they used a very different mode than the prophets. They did not speak forcefully. Rather, they expressed the revelation they
had perceived in creation through proverbs and beautifully constructed poems and
stories. In this way, they led their
audience to ask questions, ponder and discover for themselves the order that
they had found and choose to live in accord with it.
God sometimes speaks to us like He did to the prophets. When describing how they knew what important
decision to make in life, some explain that they had an incredible
experience. For example, maybe someone
knew that their spouse was the right person to marry after having a profound
and moving experience on a retreat.
Oftentimes, however, God reveals himself to us as he did to the sages
who wrote the Wisdom Literature. If we
take the time to prayerfully ponder creation and our experiences, we too can
perceive the order in it that comes from God.
We discover slowly which actions will lead to our well-being and the
well-being of those around us. God
reveals Himself in different ways. No way is better than another. The important thing is to approach life
prayerfully, with an open heart and mind, confident in the fact that God is
indeed revealing Himself to us.
