THE SPIRIT OF JESUS WHO GUIDES
THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH
THE COMMUNITY OF FAITH
If we want to
get some idea of what God is like as God, our best bet is to look at the
God-Man, Jesus. What our Lord said and what He did tell us what God is like.
When
we lived in Sioux Falls, a priest friend of mine was an assistant pastor at
Christ the King Parish where I went to church. He was tall - over six feet -
and well-built and athletic. He was standing in the narthex of the church,
greeting people as they walked out from Mass. Along came a little girl, hardly
two feet tall, who looked like a little angel; she was precious! She looked up
at the giant priest and said something he could not hear. He bent over, way
down, as if he were going to touch his toes, and asked her to repeat what she
said. In a high-pitched voice she asked, "What color are God's eyes?"
Without a moment's hesitation Fr. Mike replied, "Blue, just like
yours." Tiny as she was, the little girl was flattered. She blinked,
smiled, and then toddled away to tell her mother. It was a special moment!
A
lot of us are like that little girl. Perhaps we don't ask the color of God's
eyes, but many grown-ups as well as children want to know, "What is God
like?" In this weekend's Gospel Jesus gives us a clue when He declares,
"He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). If we want to get
some idea of what God is like as God, our best bet is to look at the God-Man,
Jesus. What our Lord said and what He did tell us what God is like.
Jesus
loved. Look at Him in the Bethlehem manger. Watch Him feed the hungry, console
the sad, reach out to the sick and handicapped. We ourselves must stand in
spirit beneath the cross to watch and listen. Here is a Man dying out of love
for every one of us. He tells us "God is love" (1 Jn 4:8), in the
words of St. John. God
is all-loving.
Look
at Our Lord calming the storm, healing all kinds of diseases, multiplying a few
loaves to feed thousands. Christ shows us the power of God. God is all-powerful as well as all-loving.
Again
and again Jesus recalls the past and explains exactly what it meant. Jesus
reads the minds of those who question Him. Jesus knows what they are thinking.
Jesus
knew the future. He foretold many events accurately long before they happened,
as in this weekend's good news. Jesus foretells the wonders the apostles will
work. God knows all things: past, present, and future. God is all-knowing.
Christ
Jesus forgave. We truly remember Magdalene; we remember the man with the palsy;
we remember the cry of Christ Jesus on the cross, "Father, forgive
them" (Lk 23:34). What is God like? He is the One who forgives you and me
and all of humankind. God
is all-merciful, all-forgiving.
In
the responsorial psalm we pray for this too. "Lord let Your mercy be on
us, as we place our trust in You" (Ps 33). We hope for Jesus' kindness,
for He delivers us. May we open ourselves to the intimate delights of the
presence of God in our souls!
After
the resurrection, in Jesus' glorified body, Jesus appeared to the apostles even
when the doors were locked. God
is everywhere.
Jesus
was concerned about everyone, especially those who had no one to care about
them. God is like a loving, watchful Father, concerned every minute for the
good of His children. God
is all-provident, all-concerned. These qualities of God we call His "perfections," the good
traits or marks He has to a perfect degree. They give us some idea of what God
is like.
Thomas
Á Kempis wrote, "Do not be ashamed to serve others for the love of Jesus
Christ and to seem poor in this world."
How
can you and I be useful? Of what service can we be? There is something inside
us. What can it be?