Encountering the Holy God
- BISHOP ROBERT BARRON
Isaiah's prophetic call, the moment when he encountered God and realized his mission and vocation, is a story for all of us.
Isaiah tells us that he was in the Temple and suddenly saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the Temple with seraphim stationed above.
Isaiah sees the Lord, but he doesn't in any way describe him. God is always known as someone unknown, comprehended as someone incomprehensible. He shows himself, but doesn't allow himself to be totally seen. The revelation of God is always, at the same time, the veiling of God.
Isaiah goes on to say that the door shook and the house was filled with smoke. An experience of God always shakes us, upsets us, and turns things around. We are driven out of our complacency, our ordinary ways of seeing and acting.
Then comes the inevitable confrontation with one's own imperfection: "Then I said, 'Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips'" (Isaiah 6:5).
The closer we get to God, the more aware we become of our imperfections. We are always humbled in the presence of God, convicted of our sin, shaken and turned around. We are, in one sense, less confident, less cocky, less sure of ourselves. But this is all good, for the "self" that we lose is the false self, the sinful "I."
One of the seraphim then flew to Isaiah and touched his mouth with a burning ember. God is never interested in convicting us of our sin and leaving us hanging. His purity makes us pure, if we allow him to burn away our sin. Something in you needs to be annihilated. And God's awe-ful holiness lets you know what that is.
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Acknowledgement
Bishop Robert Barron. "Encountering the Holy God." Bishop Robert Barron's Lent Reflections (March 11, 2016).
Reprinted with permission of Bishop Robert Barron.
The Author
Bishop Robert Barron is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries and bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota. He is also the host of CATHOLICISM, a groundbreaking, award-winning documentary about the Catholic Faith, which aired on PBS. Bishop Barron is a #1 Amazon bestselling author and has published numerous books, essays, and articles on theology and the spiritual life. He is a religion correspondent for NBC and has also appeared on FOX News, CNN, and EWTN. Bishop Barron's website, WordOnFire.org, reaches millions of people each year, and he is one of the most-followed Catholics on social media. His regular YouTube videos have been viewed over 150 million times. Bishop Barron's pioneering work in evangelizing through the new media led Francis Cardinal George to describe him as "one of the Church's best messengers." He has keynoted many conferences and events all over the world, including the 2016 World Youth Day in Kraków, Poland, as well as the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, which marked Pope Francis' historic visit to the United States. He is author of Exploring Catholic Theology, And Now I See: A Theology of Transformation, Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master, Heaven in Stone and Glass: Experiencing the Spirituality of the Great Cathedrals, Eucharist (Catholic Spirituality for Adults), The Priority of Christ: Toward a Postliberal Catholicism, and Word on Fire: Proclaiming the Power of Christ.
