Happy Mother’s Day! To all mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, and any women who embody motherly attributes, thank you for who you are and all you do for us. You make the world a joyful, loving place.
To all the female parishioners who are like mothers to me because of the hugs, smiles, affirmation and so much more, thank you. I love you. To all the females on my staff who are like mothers to me, thank you. I’m sure you want to strangle me at times, like a son, but I love you.
When I think of a mother, I think of the home. “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.” “Home is where the heart is.” Home has always been a gathering place, shelter, and sanctuary, providing escape from the busyness and intrusiveness of the world. We might reasonably suppose, therefore, that home is a readily understood concept and source of universally positive feelings.
In recent times, with stay-at-home order, home has become a more problematic notion. Many of us have wisely decided to stay at home and avoid crowds and the risk of either catching the virus or unintentionally infecting other people. You may find yourself feeling isolated, depressed, bored, worried, ruminating, and hopeless. But still home is home.
It is the love that welcomes us that makes a home and we all need one. That is where we belong, where we can relax and be our selves. Life is a journey to our home. God has manifested himself in the man from Nazareth. Jesus is God living among us. In today’s gospel He said; “I and the Father are one”. “To have seen me is to have seen the Father”.
The God of the Universe is humble. One of us, a man, he invites us to trust in him and become his friend. It is unbelievable but true. We are given this life here as the time to choose him by word and deed. He will take his friends to his home and as members of the family – the family of God – they will live forever. He wants his friends to be where he is.
Jesus is the way to the home of God because it is our friendship, our relationship, with him, which is heaven. Friendship with Jesus is the way to God. He is a man and through him we go to the Father who is pure Spirit. The father and Jesus are one God. By being one with Jesus now, we are already with God but in the darkness of faith.
Jesus tells his disciples this but they are bewildered as is revealed by the questions of Thomas and then of Philip. Maybe you feel bewildered too. Jesus and his Father are one in the Holy Spirit who is the Love between them. The Holy Spirit knows the depths of God and he comes to us. He will reveal everything about God to us. Understanding is not so important. Loving Jesus in faith is crucial.
The father lives in Jesus and Jesus lives in us. Jesus is now with his father and equal in every way with Him and he is in us. It is Jesus who works through us and so Jesus has promised that we will do the same works as he did. When we hear this, we often think of miracles but the greatest miracle we can perform for people is to love them with a love that is sincere and comes from our heart. May we allow Jesus to love people through us. This more than any sensational miracle will touch the hearts of men and women who haven’t yet known Jesus.
Do you see Jesus as real person who invites you to look for him in faith? How do you respond in faith to his call for friendship? Do you experience Jesus in you when you deal with others? Does he love others through you?
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