5 January 2018 - the heavenly connection

Today's Readings (Audio)

Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts before him
in whatever our hearts condemn,
for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. 

Rather than what we feel or what we think we must learn to trust in God's word. Rather than our preconceptions or past experiences we must see what the living word says to us now.

But Nathanael said to him,
"Can anything good come from Nazareth?" 
Philip said to him, "Come and see." 

Our hearts condemn and our pasts don't provide a clear path to freedom. But when we encounter Jesus we encounter something new, which we've never experienced before. This word is able to surprise us, even about things we think we know, even about ourselves.

Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" 
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree." 

Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. Rather than trying to figure things out on our own, let us heed Philip's invitation to "Come and see". Jesus may see more in us than we even see in ourselves. He may say of us, "There is no duplicity in him" when this would surprise us to hear. But if we believe Jesus on the point we will find that it becomes true for us. We are more than our fears. We are even more than our aspirations. And this is only the beginning.

"You will see greater things than this." 
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, 
you will see the sky opened and the angels of God 
ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Without Jesus, the self is trapped, confined by its own limits. But Jesus bridges heaven and earth. He unites us to limitless potential, to love, and to eternal life.

We know that we have passed from death to life
because we love our brothers.
Whoever does not love remains in death. 

Let us embrace the heavenly connection offered to us by Jesus. Let us come and see and hear the living word speaking to us.

Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;

his people, the flock he tends.