An Intimate Encounter with God

To say I've been slacking is an understatement.
To the Pentecostals in Ohio and the "good Deacon" from South Philly, who so graciously bring this to my attention often, I do apologize. It has been too long, my dear brothers in Christ.

In response, I offer a quick reflection.
This morning as I walked to work, I noticed a woman carrying a tote bag with print on it. The print read: "I had an 'Intimate Encounter' with God in 2007" - I assume it referred to a conference or seminar she attended this year. Immediately I felt a closeness to these words as I too had an intimate encounter with God, only it was this morning at Mass (Liturgy of the Word/Liturgy of the Eucharist).

I thought about the word intimate. Intimate can be defined as, "having, or being likely to cause, a very close friendship or personal or sexual relationship."

Well, we can have an intimate (personal) relationship/encounter with God in many ways: We can pray to Him, sit in silence and let Him speak to us, or we can meditate on His Word.
For the purpose of this entry, I will examine how we can have a intimate (sexual) relationship/encounter as well. (Yes I know...just bear with me.)

We first learn of a sexual relationship/encounter in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 28, when God says: "Be fertile and multiply" and in Genesis 2:24: "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body."
As St. Paul later tells us in his Letter to the Ephesians 5:29-32, he refers to that "one body" or "one flesh" as the union of Christ to the Church. That one flesh (intimate relationship/encounter) must be a physical union, either between husband and wife or between Christ and His Church (one of the great mysteries).

What happens when we consume food and digest it (a physical action)? Well, it biologically becomes part of us, hence the phrase "You are what you eat." I physically become what I eat, whether it's proteins, fats, or complex sugars.


So, in defining and examining the word intimate, I too had an intimate (in the fullest sense of the word!) encounter with the Living God this morning at Mass when I consumed His Son's flesh and blood.



May the peace of Christ dwell in you richly.