WATCHWORD:
1“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! John 14:1-9
Meditation:
The Way of Jesus
How do you understand Jesus statement “I am the way, the truth, and the life”? Do you see this as simply access to God the Father, or is there more to it than that?
Never in the history of the world had there been this idea of the world as community. Where before Jesus was there a movement that actively sought to include every single human being regardless of nationality, ethnicity, status, income, gender, moral background, or education, to be loved and transformed? No, never. The way of Jesus?
To be a follower of Christ in First Century Judea was a good way to get yourself killed. Christians were actually called atheists by the Romans because of their neglect of the Roman gods. Yet, 300 years later, Rome made Christianity the law of land. How did that happen?
One could make an argument that long before Jesus walked this earth, His influence touched individuals who stood up and exerted love, as defined by Jesus, into the culture of the times. The call of mission would send first Patrick to Ireland and, then, eventually thousands around the world, until by the year 1000, Christian communities ranged from Greenland to China.
In the 13th century, the son of a Noble family received what he understood to be a calling to go and repair God’s church. Francis of Assisi left behind money and security and began to attract followers, first one or two, then, in a few years, thousands. His formula combined simplicity of faith and worship with great joy. One cannot read the Canticle of Brother Sun without being captured by that sense of joy.
Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,
especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and you give light through him.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon
and the stars, in heaven you formed them
clear and precious and beautiful.
I think over the passage of time, individuals have stepped up, taking seriously Jesus’ admonition to go make disciples. Often we take that commitment too narrowly defined. We, you and me and anyone who has embraced Christianity has the same charge. Share what brought joy to your heart, what made a difference in your life. Pass it on. You are scattering seeds of God’s love. So be it.
Come Sing with Me:
The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and all creation is shouting for joy.
Come, dance in the forest,
come, play in the field,
and sing, sing to the glory of the Lord.
Doesn’t that just speak joy to the center of your being?
Prayer of St. Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen
