ACTS 6: 1-7
PSALM 32: 1-2, 4-5, 18-19 R. v.22
1 PETER 2: 4-9
JOHN 14: 1-12
As we come to the climax of Jesus’ mission in John’s Gospel, he calls his disciples to trust in God and trust in him. He then tells them to follow him for he is, the Way, the Truth and the Life. People will only follow those they trust, and trust those they love and love those they know.
There is a prayer of St Richard of Chichester that precisely reflects this call to us.
It goes like this:
O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know you more clearly, love you more dearly and follow you more nearly, day by day.
O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know you more clearly, love you more dearly and follow you more nearly, day by day.
The first question for us then is how well do we know Christ? A relationship with Christ can only be real through an openness to Christ as he was open to the Father’s will. It is through prayer and the Sacraments, the scriptures and living in God’s love. When these become part of our daily life, we will come to know Christ.
But all this won’t happen unless there is a desire in us for Christ in our lives. This is what St Peter is saying in the second reading: Jesus is our foundation stone. What we must ask ourselves is how does our desire for Christ compare with our other desires in life.
We believe that Jesus rose again and through his resurrection has won for us eternal life.
And because we believe, let us remember that only Christ can give what no other can give, eternal life. That is the reason we follow him.
There are many people who are converting to Christ when they come to know him, his teachings and his love for us by his death and resurrection. But there are many more who do not know Christ. And they will not know Christ except through us.
In the Gospel reading, Philip asked Jesus, “Let us see the Father and we will be satisfied.”
Jesus’s answered Philip, “To have seen me is to have seen the Father. You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; believe it on evidence of this work, if for no other reason.”
People will see and know Christ when we become the face and love of Christ to them. May Christ be a deep part of our lives, part of who we are; for after all this is what it means to be a Christian. As the Father lived in Christ, may Christ live in us and others come to know God through us.
May there be a great desire in our hearts to know Christ that we may love him and follow him even to the cross.
Merredin Catholic Parish 