He was hidden in the womb of His Mother; all through His life and death
on earth, His Divinity was hidden except to a very few; in His
Eucharistic life He will hide Himself to the end of time in the little
Host. He seemed to love hiding when He was on earth and when He did
reveal Himself, it was something like a child playing at hide and seek.
He hid Himself from the Samaritan woman till He had heard all her story
and then said suddenly: "I am He (the Messias) Who am speaking with
thee" (St. John IV. 26). The blind man whom He cured had not the least
idea Who He was till JESUS, hearing that he had been reviled and cast
out of the Synagogue, went and talked to him about the Son of God and
then said in the middle of the conversation: "Thou hast both seen Him,
and it is He that talketh with thee" (chap. IX. 37). From Mary Magdalen
at the sepulchre He deliberately hid Himself under the form of a
gardener that He might have the joy of suddenly surprising her with His
presence. Perhaps the most touching story of all is that of the two
disciples going to Emmaus; out of His very love for them, He blindfolded
them and then made them look for Him, while He put them off the scent by
pretending that He knew nothing about all the things that had been
happening in Jerusalem; and then when His moment was come "their eyes
were opened and they knew Him." (St. Luke XXIV. 31). He treats His
children in the same way still, He constantly hides Himself from them,
leaves them alone to fight and struggle in desolation, solitude and
spiritual darkness, and then sometimes shows by His sudden presence how
near He has been all the time.
Let me consider two questions:
1. _How does He hide Himself?_ (1) Behind obstacles that He makes:
suffering, desolation, darkness, temptation, scruples, failure
(spiritual as well as temporal), uncongenial people and
surroundings--all those many forms of the cross which the true disciple
knows so well. Let us remember that _He_ is hidden in them, it will make
all the difference. (2) Behind obstacles that we ourselves make. This
is not so consoling. He has every right to hide Himself from me, but I
have no right to make His coming to me difficult by obstacles that I put
in His path, and yet how often I do it! Self is the great obstacle. I am
taken up with myself, with my own shortcomings and miseries and failures
and weaknesses, with my imagination (how it runs away with me, away from
Him!) and my fears, my introspection--uselessly looking into myself to
see how I am advancing. What are all these but obstacles which keep God
at a distance? The soul that attracts Him is the soul that is occupied
with Him, not with self.
2. _Why does He hide Himself?_ Why does He deliberately set up obstacles
which prevent the soul from seeing Him? Why does a mother hide from her
child? Is it not for the joy of seeing it look for her and for the
consolation she is going to give it in letting herself be found? It is
the same with our God Who hides Himself. He wants to make us look for
Him, He wants to increase our love, our desire and our merit, He wants
to make us strong in faith and confidence, while acknowledging our
helplessness and dependence and nothingness without Him.