6th of Easter
April 2008
‘Whoever holds to my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me; and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and reveal myself to him.'
How simple and straightforward it is.
We are all searching for God. We wonder why it is so difficult to find God.
I do not discover God. God reveals Himself to me.
God reveals himself to ‘whoever holds to my commandments and keeps them.’
And what are God’s commandments?
‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.'
And who is my neighbour?
‘A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of bandits; they stripped him, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead. A Samaritan traveller who came on him was moved with compassion when he saw him. He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him onto his own mount and took him to an inn and looked after him.’
When we treat and respect our neighbour as we would God, then God reveals Himself to us.
The big secret is that when I see God in the face of my neighbour, then God reveals Himself to me.
When Philip said - `Lord, show me the Father and then I shall be satisfied.’
Jesus answered him with some impatience, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? `Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say, ``Show me the Father''? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me’?
If I ask Jesus to reveal himself to me Jesus will answer me with some impatience, ‘Have I been with you all this time, John, and you still do not know me? Whenever you see your neighbour you see me` so how can you say, ‘reveal yourself to me? Do you not believe that I am in your neighbour and your neighbour is in me?’
When I can meet God in my neighbour, then I will meet God in my prayer, in the Mass and in the Sacraments.
The ‘big secret’ is sitting right in front of my nose and I refuse to see it.