When God feels distant

How the Eucharist teaches us that God is never far away

“And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.”

Luke 6:17

Sometimes God just seems so far away. We may be praying for or about something with hearts broken and pierced and wondering where Jesus is.

Does He hear me? Does He even know I am here?

And even amongst good friends and family, we still feel alone because the cry of our hearts has gone unanswered. We may question God, wondering why Christ who came down to become man and stand among us feels a million miles away.

In today’s readings, the Lord reminds us that we cannot trust in human beings to do what only He can do. He reminds us that human beings are not God and that we must put our trust and hope in Him alone, even when we feel we are in a spiritual drought.

This is why He came down in today’s gospel on a level plain, so He could be right there with us, in the midst of our greatest problems and tragedies.

Christ is an accessible God who walks with us and among us. He is never far away.

When I think about Christ on a level plain, I think about a God who came down as man. He became attainable, touchable, reachable.

He is the God who hears me, sees me, and knows me.

God is not far off or someone I can’t reach out for. In fact, I reach out for Him every Sunday when I receive Him in the Eucharist.

I may “feel” that He is far off, but these feelings are deceptive. Having the sacraments with me reminds me that He is in fact on level ground with me- touchable, reachable, and attainable.

Today if you are feeling alone, misled, in grief, or rejected, know that whether you feel it or not, God is with you. He came down as man in the person of Jesus Christ to be accessible to you.

And as you receive Him in Holy Communion, take a moment to meditate on that level plain. He is right next to you, beside you, intimately involved in every detail of your life.

And remember that on this side of heaven, you have the keys to the Kingdom in the Eucharist, the closeness of God here on earth.