Sunday, August 18, 2024
In The Sound of Music, the 1965 movie adaptation of the play with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, a retired naval officer, Captain Georg von Trapp, is portrayed as a complex, stern, emotionally distant disciplinarian who is unapproachable by his children. The Captain runs his household with the same rigidity and meticulousness as his navel ships, enforcing strict rules with an authoritarian demeanor. In The King and I, an earlier Musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, King Mongkut of Siam is an imposing, powerful, commanding, authoritarian, and autocratic King. For many, the attributes of these two characters recapitulate their view of who God is: an angry, distant, and difficult-to-please father figure. Pause for a moment. Is that the image of God you see?
The Holy Scriptures emphasize God’s personal nature and traits, His presence, and His relationship with us. We can read about many examples of God’s presence with His people throughout the Old Testament. He was in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and in the burning bush Moses encountered. He guided the Israelites in the wilderness and revealed Himself through prophets. In the Bible, God expresses love, anger, and sadness. It is important to note that these imageries of God are metaphorical, for He is spiritual and transcendent. God is the Creator and Sustainer of life and the universe. His beautiful creation is a reflection of His glory. God revealed Himself fully through the incarnation of Christ, the Word of God made flesh. As Christians, we come to a deeper understanding of God the Father, who, in Christ, embodies love and our salvation.
In today’s Old Testament Reading from Proverbs, Divine Wisdom is depicted as a person who invites individuals to partake in her offerings. The Reading describes Wisdom as having built a house and prepared a feast, symbolizing the abundance and richness of the knowledge and understanding she provides. It calls us to embrace wisdom so that we advance our understanding. This is another example of God giving Himself to us. Who can turn down this invitation? In the light of Christ in our Gospel Reading for today, wisdom is symbolic of the Eucharist. Wisdom building a house is symbolic of Christ’s incarnation. The invitation to eat her food and drink her wine is symbolic of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus that we are invited to partake in so that we may live eternally.
God prepares a banquet and invites us to be in communion with Him. His incarnation and sacrifice illustrate the depths of His profound love that is beyond our understanding. He is the Living Bread that leads us to eternal life. The passages for today encapsulate the essence of God’s relationship with humanity, inviting all to partake in the life He offers through Christ. Paul, in today’s Reading from Ephesians, encourages us to be mindful of how we live, to walk with others in love, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to give thanks always in the name of Jesus.
Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord.