Nothing can separate us from Jesus’ love and mercy

Reading: I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. John 17:11.

Good morning, happy Tuesday, and many blessings.

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me.”  What powerful words (John 17:1-11a) and what a wondrous gift Jesus gave to his disciples!  Take a moment and think back to your childhood.  Who was it that introduced you to God and to Jesus?  Was it your parents or was it the priests, sisters, or teachers in your parish or at your school?  Was God manifested to you in the beauty of nature? Perhaps it was all of the above!

Jesus speaks from the depths of his heart. He tells us of the Father’s love for him and his love for his Father, who is the heart and core of his very being. The Father’s love continues to be with him right to the end, even to the Cross, to the point of giving his all, his life.

“This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent”. All our life we struggle to know him, through words and parables, and through the world which he has entrusted to us. At no stage can we say that we understand God. Saint Augustine wrote: “Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe that you may understand”. My human mission is to seek God through every means, and to remain a God-seeker until the day when he reveals himself to me face to face.

The question for us today is: How are we making Jesus’ name known to the people in our lives? Think about that for a moment.  How do you strive to share Jesus’ love, compassion and generosity to the people in your life?  It may be through the simple and repetitive acts of the daily or it might be through reaching out to someone who is struggling.  When we strive to share Jesus’ love and care with others, we are making Jesus known to them.

Who is who makes Jesus known to you?  How do they do that?  Is it by their care and appreciation of who you are?  Did they do something to make your day brighter?  Today I invite you to be mindful of the small yet wondrous gifts of care and love the people in your life share with you.  Give thanks for their goodness and love!   And give thanks for the goodness and love of Jesus!

The mission of Jesus is about to be accomplished. Saint John sees the passion and death of Jesus as the moment in which He is most glorious; because His mission is to reveal in human form, the infinite love and mercy of God, in all circumstances, for the whole of humanity. This love and mercy is most evident when Jesus responds with love and mercy to his being betrayed, rejected, mocked, scourged, and crucified. The message is that nothing can separate us from his love and mercy. He makes clear the inner nature of God. The evil of the whole human race is transformed in the heart of Jesus crucified.

Blessings,

Fr. Luis+