The God of revelation is a hidden and mysterious God. The disciples experienced this God on the Sea of Galilee: they were caught in a storm while Jesus was up on a mountain by himself praying. The Gospel says they were terrified when they saw him walking on the water.

Elijah thought he would experience God in a strong and heavy wind, or in an earthquake, or in a fire. Instead he found God in “a tiny whispering sound.”

We keep thinking that God will be found in the great and powerful, and we wonder why so many people seem never to find God.

Our sights have to be lowered, so to speak, from the powerful to the powerless, from the rich to the poor, from the satisfied to the suffering, from the oppressors to the oppressed. We have to listen carefully for the tiny whispering sounds of alienation and powerlessness.

Lord, let us see your kindness. Let us see it in all the little people who follow you, carrying their crosses of daily sacrifice, suffering, humiliation, and victimization.

Though in the Gospels and in the New Testament as a whole the offer of salvation is extended to all peoples, Jesus takes the side of those most in need, physically and spiritually.

The example of Jesus ... calls for an emptying of self, both individually and corporately, that allows the Church to experience the power of God in the midst of poverty and powerlessness.

U.S. Bishops, Economic Justice for All, 1986:52