TO "KNOW" IS INTIMATE AND
RELATIONAL
In Jesus we see
the perfect love of our heavenly Father…
The
seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John is about Jesus praying. Today's
Scripture is the beginning of that prayer. Jesus Christ prays for the disciples
who are filled with anxiety about what is to come. It is easy to imagine that
the disciples would be worried about what might happen to them in the future,
how their lives might change, or about the challenge they might have to face.
In this uncertainty, Jesus prays for them and for every time and place; His
prayer includes all!
To
"know" is intimate and relational and this prayer reveals this
knowing in the intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father where we find
a refuge and strength.
In
today's reading from Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul is not sure what awaits him
in Jerusalem. He foresees that persecution and prison is possible. What Paul
knows for sure in his heart is that God's grace in Christ Jesus will sustain
him along the journey, for he serves the Lord with all humility!
In
the responsorial psalm we acclaim, "Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
God is a saving God for us all; the Lord, my Lord, controls the passageways of
death" (Ps 68:21).
In
Jesus we see the perfect love of our heavenly Father -- a God who cares
intensely and who yearns over us His children, loving us to the point of laying
down His life for us. Jesus Christ is the revelation of God, who loves us
completely.
To
"know" -- is it intimate and relational for you?