Tuesday After Epiphany

The Responsorial Psalm foretells, “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you” (Psalm 72). Picture it. 

Adoration is a total, all-unifying response to the overwhelming truth and beauty of God. Before the infinite Being of God, in whom all truth, all goodness are One, we ourselves are reduced to one act. There is nothing to say, nothing to do, nothing to add. All is before us. We simply condense ourselves into one silent, wordless word of affirmation. In our silence, we become a single word expressed, a word for which there is no word. All that we are becomes eloquent in silence. There is no other way to recognize the full Being of God. 

When “every nation on earth adores him,” there will be no divisions between us, because we will all be focused just on what He is, not on what any one of us is not. The only goodness we will be aware of is his and our participation in it, and we will adore it in Him and in one another. Outside of Him — and of his beauty as found in the unique diversity of every person and culture — we will pay attention to nothing at all, because there will be nothing else. Everything good and true and beautiful — all that truly is — will be present in Him. And in everything and everyone that is, we will see his truth, his goodness, and beauty shining through the distinct life and characteristics of every being God has made. “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.”  

1John 4: 7-10 tells us love is like adoration in this, that it silences everything within us that is not of God, and focuses us only on what is of God in one another. True love does not blind us to the faults in one another, but they cease to be the focus. They are just the background out of which each one’s truth and beauty shine. “Let us love one another, because love is of God; and everyone who loves… knows God.” 

On this earth, our whole being cannot remain rapt and unified in one, silent act of adoration. We are here to grow and develop through interaction with all of creation. We have work to do, and we have to focus on many things that can distract us from the pure truth and goodness of God. So Mark 6: 34-44 teaches us that active love can be the unifying focus in our lives. To see good, do love. Jesus was “moved with pity” for the crowds. He taught them, told his disciples to feed them, and made their eating a sign of Eucharist, where he assembles people to nourish them with himself. And in Eucharist, by sharing themselves with each other, they share in his own act of giving life to the world.  

The lesson? To be Love, do Love.  

Initiative: Accept Jesus as universal Savior. Let love be your eyes. Focus on God’s truth and goodness in everyone. And share. 

— Fr. David M. Knight

View today’s Mass readings, Lectionary #213, on the USCCB website here

Fr. David M. Knight (1931-2021) was a priest of the Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee, a prolific writer, and a highly sought after confessor, spiritual director, and retreat master. He authored more than 40 books and hundreds of articles that focus primarily on lay spirituality and life-long spiritual growth.