Jn 14,7-14 (A part of the reading of today)
If you know me, you will know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him. Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him. ‘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 us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I say to you I do not speak of my own accord: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his works. You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works. In all truth I tell you, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.
Many of us will have grown up in faith and received the gospel in a certain “organic way”. If a true life of faith emerges from this, then faith grows and matures through the reception of the sacraments and the daily exercise of faith, and by taking steps towards deeper conversion! However, this happens only when faith takes the first place in the life of man and life is formed from it.
When we look deep into the heart of Jesus, we discover there a burning love for God the Father. Perhaps we are too little aware that the Lord wants to glorify the Father and make us acquainted with him as God really is.
It is naturally closer to us that we look at the love of Jesus for us.
But the Lord wants to take us into his great love for the Father, that we may live completely in it and be at home in it.
Perhaps an analogy can help us to understand this even better.
Let us think of a married couple who love one another and who, after a long wait, are given a child by the Lord! The love of the parents now embraces the child and the child lives from it.
The child will then also discover that the parents not only turn their love towards him, the child, but also love each other. Now the child is also at home in this love and rejoices in the mutual attention of the parents. It is not only not excluded, but completely enclosed and loves this love!
This is how it is with the love of Jesus for His Father, into which He calls us. To become aware of it is a great inner richness, because what can be more beautiful than the love of the Blessed Trinity that exists between the three divine Persons! All are included in this love, for this love has brought them into being, redeems them and will complete them when it is answered.
Philip has yet to understand that he meets the Father in Jesus, he has not yet recognized it and Jesus explains it to him and therefore to all those who come later. All the works that the Lord Jesus does, the Father does, they are one. Therefore we also see the Father in Jesus.
Let us try today not to ask, like Philip, that Jesus may show us the Father! We know this by faith, we just have to know deeper and deeper.
But we can ask Jesus to reveal his love for the Father more, to take us as his children and disciples completely into this mystery, to live in it and from it.
It is important that we realize our faith not only in the active dimension, as essential as works of faith are.
We are invited to grasp in contemplation the core of faith, the reason for all that we see and believe: the love of God. And there is first of all the love of the most holy Trinity in itself.
No one should think that to encounter the love of God in oneself is worth less than concrete service. Let us think of Mary, as she sat at the feet of Jesus, who emphasized her contemplative attitude! (cf. Lk 10,38-42)
No, it is different; the more I encounter the love of God, the more my heart is inflamed, the more easily my works take on a supernatural character because they flow directly from the love of God! The right contemplation of the love of God leads to live in this love and to share it.
In eternity we will be able to see God and enjoy Him without restrictions. He himself will be our joy, together with all who love him!
Here on earth we are already invited to share a part of that joy we will experience in eternity. Let us ask the Lord Jesus to get to know his love for the Father more and also to love the Father as he does!
Let us not therefore miss prayer, the time with him, also being alone with him. For we never lose time when we pray in the right way, but we lose a lot of time when, instead of prayer, we do things that are not of the same importance!
Let us ask our Lord about His love for the Father, and let us ask Him not only to understand it better, but also – as far as this is possible on earth – to be allowed to begin to enjoy it now and to be at home in it!
Harpa Dei accompanies the daily scriptural interpretation or spiritual teaching of Br. Elija, their spiritual father. These meditations can be heard on the following website www.en.elijamission.net
