"If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, 'He is our God.'
You do not know him, but I know him.
O ur knowledge of God the Father must begin with our relationship to Jesus, and vice versa. He found his entire identity in his love of God; and knew himself only within his knowledge and assurance of God's love for him.
Those who do not know God cannot know Jesus, nor can they understand his mission and purpose. He is a stranger, and completely foreign to them. They may know their catechism answers about God, they may be familiar with the Church's teachings about God and the sacraments, but without an inner knowing of God -- that which we call the Holy Spirit -- their knowledge is lifeless, ineffective, and sterile.
All that should be pretty obvious to believers and unbelievers alike, and yet it causes division within families, churches, nations, and one's own heart.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword."
The Gospel of Saint John is a gospel of crisis and confrontation. Despite the precision of his words and teaching, the Lord's critics and opponents cannot recognize him. He is an alien and comes from a strange, faraway place beyond their ken.
To know the Lord we surrender the habits of critique and suspicion which separate us from God and others. Programs like Cursillo and Marriage Encounter often ask people to, "Participate, don't anticipate!" for the course of a weekend. Leave your wariness at home "...and if you don't like what you have learned, you can have your old attitudes back!" Afterwards, most people are very pleased with what they have discovered, and the experience may be life changing.
Our faith begins with our experience of God and his Church. Commitments come next, and finally our doctrines.
Ideologues, of course, see everything through the lens of their convictions, and are habitually suspicious of every other opinion. They can hardly stand someone's agreeing with them but using different words or better insights.
Suspicion, once adopted as a manner of thinking, does not retire upon discovering other words or opinions. If it is initially delighted with its new learning, it must continually probe and poke until even the new ideas and their proponents are also discredited. Marxism wants a continuing revolution which alienates friends, transforming them to mortal enemies. It wants to atomize society, turning families into solitary, lost individuals. (...who make better consumers.)
We have seen the same dynamic within today's ideological movements. They neither find nor expect to find peace of mind. They believe they "will be happy when...."
But that Day never comes.
The Gospel of Saint John graphically describes the Lord's demands upon us. We must be like the royal official in chapter four who, "...heard what the Lord said to him and went home."
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.