3 May 2016 - sons in the Son

[ Today's Readings ]

No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.

Even though you tell us..

From now on you do know him and have seen him.

We immediately ask..

Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.

And the response you give is one we know to be true.

Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?"

We have been walking with you for so long a time, Jesus. But we still don't really know you in the way you want to be known.

Just as the Father is the very source and goal of all that you are so is he meant to be for us in you. And so when you tell us that the very goal of all that we are is before our eyes to see we should be more excited than we are.

We thrill to see you rise from the waters of John's baptism or to stand on the Mount of Transfiguration when the Father claims you as his own beloved Son. And yet here, before our own eyes we can see the Father's love for each one of us revealed.

Here in your presence the Spirit cries out within us, "Abba!" if we gaze deeply enough. We need to look past the surface. We need to look deeper than mere flesh. We even need to look deeper than the world's ideas about you (Elijah? One of the prophets?). The point is that even if you are supernatural in our eyes that is not the true depths of the Trinitarian mystery you want to reveal. And the main point that should motivate us to meditate on this mystery is that it is no mere abstraction. We are made sons in the Son. Your revelation of the Father to us is precisely our gateway to share in your own Sonship. We talk a lot about peace, joy, and love in Christianity. But think. If we truly know that we are sons and daughters of the all-powerful creator of the universe who loves us beyond words then we won't be able to help but experience such blessings.

Your revelation of the Father's love for us is the hallmark of your every action, Jesus.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

In all of this we see the will of the Father who gave his only Son that all who believe in him might be saved (see John 3:16). In your faithful response we see not only your own love for us, but also the love you have for the Father which you intend for us to share and to make our own.

It is a big deal to embrace our part in this mystery.

Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.

Go to the Father, Jesus. Because when you do you bring each of us with you to his throne, to his embrace, and to his heart.

And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.

Anything we ask in your name will now be done because it is asked for the glory of the Father and the glory of the Son. Our spirits become so conformed to you that we can neither ask nor desire anything else. So we pray simply for this message to echo and reecho throughout creation.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day;
and night to night imparts knowledge.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.