Mark 9:2-10
Do you recall when you truly recognized Jesus as God? If you are a cradle Catholic as I am, you were raised to accept that Jesus is God but that isn’t same as knowing it for yourself. You may suspect that Jesus is God. You may want to believe that he is God. You may even have all the right vocabulary around that belief, but that isn’t the same as truly knowing it deep down in the core of your soul. There is a longing in each of us for that experience of recognition. It could be an instant or perhaps a slow revelation that eventually comes into focus for us. However it comes, it is our OMG moment. That moment in time when we can truly say, for ourselves, “Oh, My God!” and know that he truly is.
This Sunday’s Gospel was truly the story of Peter’s, James’, and John’s OMG moment. They suspected that Jesus was the one, they hoped he was the one, they wanted to believe he was the one. But this – this experience left no doubt for any of them. It was so profound that it filled them with fear. What do you do when you come face to face with God? You tremble. You want to stay right where you are and understand what is happening, to allow the experience to transform you. You want to experience it with all of your human senses, to truly know that you have encountered the Son of God.
And then what? You have to come back down from the summit. You have to come back to the real, mundane world from which you came. But you are no longer the same. You have had your OMG moment. You know your God to the very depths of your soul and that knowledge cannot be contained. You seek out others who have had their OMG moments to be able to talk, question and share. You are filled to bursting, finding opportunities to share that OMG moment with any who will listen. You want to help others to be open to the possible OMG moment of their lives.
If you can truly say, “OMG,” celebrate it. Share it with others. Shout it from the rooftops. Cherish it as the graced gift that it is.
Sister Danielle Jacob, CSFN
