Your presence, O LORD, I seek.
Psalm 27:1, 3, 5, 8b-9abc. February 3, 2023 - Friday, 4th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalm 27 begins with a declaration from the psalmist: “the Lord is my light and my salvation”. Listening to this confession of faith I immediately think of Jesus, my Lord and Saviour. There are few stories in the Gospels about Jesus healing physical blindness. Those healings reveal the condition of humanity, namely our spiritual blindness and only Jesus, the Light of the world, can enlighten the darkness of our life. The name of Jesus signifies salvation. The Gospels are filled with stories of Jesus saving people from various illnesses, demonic possession, and death. They culminate with the story of Jesus’ saving death for the salvation of humanity. And so the Church proclaims Jesus as the Saviour of the world.
If Jesus is my light and salvation, then I should not be afraid of anyone. Unfortunately, the psalmist's declaration of trust puts many of us to shame. Although we confess Jesus as our light and our salvation, we often fail to trust him. Fear is the opposite of faith. When the terrified disciples woke up Jesus in the middle of the storm and accused him of not carrying about them, Jesus asked them: “Why are you so afraid?” And then he immediately added: “Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:40). It would take time for them to learn to trust Jesus. But there would come a day when they could sleep peacefully in prisons knowing that the following they might be executed for their faith.
There is, however, one thing that the psalmist is afraid of, namely being abandoned by God. As long as we are in the presence of the Lord, we are safe, but the moment the Lord hides his face we falter. Psalm 30 describes it in this way: “By your favour, O LORD,
you made me firm as a mighty mountain; when you hid your face; I was terrified” (Ps 30:8). In Christian spirituality, there is a concept known as ‘dark night’ of senses and intellect. After the initial spiritual honeymoon, when the Lord is close and faith seems obvious, suddenly terrifying darkness comes upon us. We have doubts of faith, prayer becomes a burden, and everything seems devoid of meaning.
Among many saints who passed through such experience were Saint Therese of the Child of Jesus and Saint Teresa of Calcutta. But, the one who is credited for elaborating this concept and showing us the way through it is Saint John of the Cross. In his “Dark Night of the Soul”, he presented it as a necessary process of purification on the way towards holiness.
The psalmist says that he seeks God’s face. Where? In the temple. He goes to the temple, to experience the presence of the Lord in the liturgical celebration. How about us? Where do we seek the face of the Lord?