Approaching the Throne

Recently, when I had just arrived at church for Mass, I found myself praying these lines:

Lord, I come to your awesome presence,

From the shadows into your radiance.

By the blood I may enter your brightness,

Search me, try me, consume all my darkness.

Ok, it's from Shine, Jesus, Shine one of our old school hymns, which is probably why I hadn't noticed how apt those lines are before, and how much truth is in that verse.

It just amazed me that day how these few lines expressed so many things, the glory and majesty of God, our own brokenness and need for him, Christ's sacrifice that brings us fully into his grace, the presence of Christ in the Church, in the sacraments and in ourselves, and an openness and willingness to subject ourselves to him as our king.

All the things that I need to believe in my heart and express when I come to him in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

It brought home to me that worship is not just about saying "God, you're wonderful" (which he is) but about giving oneself to him, and partaking in Christ's sacrifice. We say, "Lord, show me my faults and renew my heart" so that we can become more fully united with him.

It is not worship from afar, it is intimate, we are not watching the stage from the stalls, we are approaching the throne. We are members of a family, and we are to join in that familial love, exemplified in the trinity.

This kind of intimacy and love, is the very heart of the sacrament of the Eucharist, which is why, I think, these lines are a perfect meditation for the beginning of Mass.

God bless.
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