Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s lectionary features the beginning verses of the Book of Ezekiel, highlighting his wild prophetic call. Some imaginations have surmised that what Ezekiel envisioned were actually UFOs – “spinning wheels and rims, shooting up into the sky.” Amidst this celestial dance are creatures emitting sounds akin to sonic booms. When the “crafts” stop shooting about and simply hover, the thundering voice of the Almighty warns the Judeans to straighten up (or else).
But Ezekiel wasn’t experiencing a “close encounter of the third kind” but rather a “close encounter of the indescribable kind.” The prophet attempts to describe what we cannot begin to fathom —- God’s magnificence. Prophets, mystics and seers through time have ventured to portray the Divine majesty with images that always come up short.
Defining the indefinable. Science has richly revolutionized our lives, unfolding the riddles of the universe before us to a degree unimaginable only a few generations past. We have benefited enormously (and suffered, too) thanks to science. We can now define the origin and reality of life itself while new hypotheses and discoveries keep flooding our way.
Still there is spirit and soul and mystery within human beings that science simply cannot explain, aspects like beauty, hope, love, empathy, sorrow, humor, creativity, compassion, loyalty, transcendence, forgiveness, and sacrifice. Attempts to apply the scientific method and explain such truly human indefinables ring hollow. For these are attributes of the soul.
The prophet Ezekiel places the Almighty at the top of his list of that which is light years beyond our grasp, starting with his dazzling prophetic call. No, science cannot explain everything nor should it try. There are mysteries simply to be embraced and lived and treasured.
And that is the gift of it.
—Timothy J. Cronin