Monday, May 23, 2011

Reveal Yourself

In today's Gospel (John 14: 21-26), Jesus speaks of revealing Himself to those who love Him. This is seen as a result of the Father's love. It is like a great circle: I love Jesus, the Father loves me, Jesus loves me and reveals Himself to me, I love Jesus even more! And the best part of it is, like with any circle, you can jump in anywhere, since there is no beginning nor end! If you do not feel particularly loving, just realize that the Father loves you, or that Jesus loves you. This will make you more open to loving Jesus, which triggers even more love!
It is one of the great mysteries and graces of love at work here. As a rule, when you give something away you end up with less. Love is the great exception which proves the rule. The more love you give away, the more you end up having yourself. Why is this? Because, as the first letter of John (4:8) tells us, "God is love." And since God is infinite, love is also infinite. This also means that the opportunities for Jesus to reveal Himself to us is infinite. All that is needed is to love.
We instinctively know this to be true. How many times, for example, have parents felt the presence of the Lord as they gaze on the sleeping face of their child? How powerful is the presence of Christ when we witness unsolicited acts of kindness or charity? The Lord himself also tried to share this reality with us by explaining in Matthew 18: 20, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in your midst" and in Matthew 25: 40, he states "Whatsoever you do to one of these, the least of my sisters or brothers, you do to me". Both of these circumstances are really expressions of love, and hence reveal the presence of Jesus.
So I guess the question for us is "How many times will you see Jesus today?"
And the answer: "As many times as you show love for someone!"

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