[Jesus said,] “Do not
let your hearts be troubled: have faith in God, have faith also in me.
“In my father’s house,
there are many dwelling places. If there
were not, would I have said to you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
“And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that
where I am you also may be.
“And you know the way
where I am going.”
Thomas said to him,
“Lord, we do not know where you are going.
How can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I
am the way and the truth and the life.
No-one comes to the Father except through me.
“If you have known me,
you will know the Father. And from now
on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”
Philip said to him,
“Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “I
have been with you for this long, and you do not know me, Philip? Whoever sees me is seeing the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the father?’
“Do you not believe
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on
my own behalf, but the Father dwelling in me performs His works.
“Believe in me, since I
am in the Father and the Father is in me.
Or if you can’t, believe through these works.
“Very truly I say to
you: Whoever believes in me will do the works I do and will do greater than
these, because I am going to the Father.
“And whatever you ask
in my name, I will do it, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
~~
The
hardest part of writing a petition is starting it. Sitting down over Christmas break to write a
petition for final vows, at first I was at a loss for how to begin. How do I explain how perpetual profession
makes sense for me, when such an extravagant gift of self is not in the least
bit sensible? Being at a loss gave way
to frustration, when I read over the brief for the petition. In five pages, we had to cover all five
pillars, three vows and talk about our intercultural experience and willingness
to serve overseas. Where would there be
space for this and the spiritual magnum
opus I was at a loss for how to write?
So, I
started writing. I started with all the
factual details they had asked for. Details
reflected on at a depth level, but still details: the ins and outs of my life
in formation so far. And that was when
it hit. My clearest articulation for why
I’m convinced God is calling me to live and die as a religious of the
Congregation of Holy Cross does not lie in some clever reasoning or virtuoso
prose; it’s not some abstract esoteric secret that I need to dig out and display. It’s right here, in my life, in the details, the
things I take for granted, my day to day over the last 1664 days.
“Lord,
show us the Father.” It’s a bold request
that Philip makes at the Last Supper, a request that evidences the kind of
trust Jesus called his disciples to – “have faith in the Father, have faith
also in me.” It’s a faith that shows very
little understanding. And for two
thousand years of theological reflection for the Church, and a hundred odd
credit hours for me: our faith can often show a similar lack of understanding,
or at least forgetfulness. “Show me the
Father” and make it esoteric and grandiose and dramatic and hermetically separate
from my day to day!
“I have
been with you for this long and you do not know me?”
No comments:
Post a Comment