Acts 13:44-52
Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4
Jn 14:7-14 Full Readings
Saint Pedro de San Jose Bentancur
To See Jesus is to See the Father
Brethren, Jesus in today's Gospel explains how he is the way to the Father. In yesterday's reflection we saw three ways how Jesus is the way. Revelation of God, helping us to know the Father and the way through which we reach to Him. Jesus tells his disciples that whoever sees him sees the Father. Jesus is the perfect revelation of God, He is God indeed. When we believe in Him we have really believed in the Father. With him we know everything about God not only that but also what really His kingdom is.
Jesus is the perfect revelation of God. If we want to know everything about God, we have to know Jesus. Without Jesus, we are inclined to talk about God falsely even condemning him of our problems. St Augustine shows us the need of Jesus in knowing God as he writes "God our Father, we find it difficult to come to you, because our knowledge of you is imperfect. In our ignorance we have imagined you to be our enemy; we have wrongly thought that you take pleasure in punishing our sins; and we have foolishly conceived you to be a tyrant over human life. But since Jesus came among us, he has shown that you are loving, and that our resentment against you was groundless." We cannot therefore claim we know God if we don't know Jesus.
Brethren, the best thing we should ever possess is the knowledge of God, as it is pure knowledge, and this knowledge becomes a leader of our lives. When we are led by this knowledge we have the tranquility of the soul. This knowledge also helps us to believe and love God more, as we can't love what we don't know. St Anselm in his proslogion prays "Lord, let me know you and love you, so that I may find my joy in you." He also teaches that faith must seek understanding. St Augustine also holds that I believe to understand, and I understand to believe more. We can't love God if we don't know anything about him and we can't know anything about God unless we believe in Jesus who is the way to knowing the Father.
As the Father gave the power to Jesus to do miracles, that is how it will be to us when we believe in Jesus. We shall do the same works and even more than Jesus and whatever we ask in his name we shall receive; this is an assurance we have in Jesus Christ to all who believe in Him. However, we shouldn't boast over all these gifts, we should act as Jesus. Jesus did only what the Father gave him, no addition, no subtraction. He should be our role model.
Thus, we are very lucky that we are hearing this and that Jesus is there for us to know God, let us accept him and not be like Jews in the first Reading, who refused him when He was proclaimed to them by Apostles. This made the Apostles to go to the pagans. Let us not let Jesus pass us and go to others before we get him.
Let us reflect today on how deep our faith in Jesus is and pray for the Graces we need to put all our trust in Him. Let us pray that we may always seek to understand God through Jesus Christ who invites daily through his word and Eucharist to come to Him and savour his goodness and know the goodness of God.
Let us Pray.
Lord God, my deepest desire is to know you eternally and thus have eternal communion with you. I long to see your face and enjoy your blessedness in the beatific vison when I will have full knowledge of you. Guide me on my journey to you and empower me to accomplish the greater works your Son has revealed. Amen
Be blessed forever and Happy Easter Season.
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