Know Jesus!

Often times Fr. Sanjai and I will share with one another ideas and topics to consider in our preaching for any particular Sunday or Holy Day that is approaching.  Just a week or two ago I asked Fr. Sanjai what his main theme would be for that coming Sunday.  He said that he wanted to express the difference between knowing “about” Jesus than “truly knowing” him.

         

There is a difference, between that of knowing about a person than actually knowing them.  This leads me into our readings for this week, in particular our 2^nd reading from the 1^st letter of John and the Gospel of John.  Both speak about “remaining in Jesus” and also “doing his work.”  One cannot carry the Gospel mandate out if our faith is only about knowledge.  Our faith must go deeper and become very personal.  To remain in Christ and to . . . “love in deed and truth,” one must know our Lord.

          

How do we get to know Him you may ask?  It’s simple; we are doing it right now.  We get to know Jesus right here at mass, through the readings, the homily, if it’s a good one at least, and most of all through the Eucharist.

         

We also get to know Jesus in a very personal way when we spend time with him in prayer and just allowing him to talk to us.  We all need to spend more time in quiet reflective prayer, especially on our Lord’s life.

          

We also encounter our Lord in Sacred Scripture, in our reading of the stories contained within, especially the story of our Lord.  Here we will get to know about our Lord, but also get to “know” him, as he speaks to us in his sacred Word.

          

To remain on the vine or to love in deed and truth one must get to know Christ.  I use the word to “know” here not just in the simple usage of the word, but the same if not more intense way that a mother knows her child or in a way that a husband loves his wife.  To preserve one must be in love and to be in love we must know the person with whom we are in love with.  Jesus wants us to know him more and more each day and he invites us into his life each moment, the question becomes have I taken advantage of this opportunity, for if I have not then how will I remain in his love and how will I love in deed and truth?  It’s a question only you can answer.  God bless you, Fr. John