What Does It Mean to be "Prophet"?

This week, we spent our third Tuesday evening at Aquinas, listening to Father Mike Demkovich, O.P. share who Meister Eckhart was, and continues to be through his writings.  In this particular week, Father Mike shared excerpts from multiple sermons given by Meister Eckhart, one of which I would like to share with you. 

“Should the soul know when God is coming she would die of joy and if she knew when He was departing, she would die of sadness.  She never knows when He comes or goes but she perfectly grasps Him when He is by her.”

Have you ever been so excited to see God?  Have you ever had the experience of knowing you were where you were meant to be, met who you were meant to meet, and left either feeling such joy you felt like running or even skipping down the street?  Better still, screech with delight?

On the other side of this “knowing”, have you ever been at the bedside of someone you love who is anxiously awaiting, with joy albeit, to meet their God, while you on the other hand, sit in your sadness?  This person is a gift given by God to help you grow in your own relationship with God.  A gift freely given. 

We never know when the face of God will be revealed to us; or when God will ask us to be present in our “aloneness”.  As I reflect on this week during Lent, what comes to mind is Anna, the prophetess who was in the temple when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus.  Luke’s Gospel is the only one of the four who mentions her brief encounter with Jesus.  Luke describes Anna as a widow, who never left the temple.  But it was the line, “coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”

I could just imagine something grabbing Anna’s attention, where joy filled her heart, and she had to run and meet her God.  She knew, and she gave thanks.  In that brief moment, God had fed her with food for the journey, and with that, she left her physical space she shared with God to share the Good News with anyone who would listen.

So I ask myself, during my Lenten journey, how have I shared my own encounter with God? Where have I found God?  Have I missed an opportunity to bring God to someone because it didn’t fit in my schedule and felt the need to ask for forgiveness?  Have I taken my sadness back to God, and found in my heart a desire to try again?

Chris