DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen 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; but the Father who dwells in me does his works… – John 14:8-10

The disciple and apostle Philip is portrayed as a straight-forward soul, direct in his questions and plain-spoken in his words.  He asks for his rabbi to point him to God, the Father in Heaven, the Parent of us all, the Creator and Sustainer of all life.  And Christ responds with a measure of frustration in His voice … “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father…” then furthers the explanation with that enigmatic phrase … “I am in the Father and the Father is in me”.”

Philip wanted to see the God of Heaven, God in the Spirit, and Christ responded with a radical new understanding … you now see God on earth, God in human flesh.  It is the amazing initiative of God to bring heaven and earth together as well as the Divine and the human.  God now dwells not only in heavenly realms but also in this earthly realm, in a ream not only within an individual’s life but also in our human relationships, in our human community, even, if we so choose, in our human endeavor.

Christ was the forerunner and His Life was the first expression of the human and the Divine living together in a mystical Oneness.  And by the seed of his life falling to earth, we by way of extension become a harvest field of that coming together by way of His Spirit within us and among us.  I like to call this … the ongoing process of the Christ-ification of this world.  As Christ was One with the Father, so in a less purer way, we also are One with the Father.  By our being in Christ, Christ is then to be in us, not only in hearts, but in words and actions, our values and purposes.  And as we develop and nurture this ever-closer Oneness with Christ, more and more the world is able to see God living within us and transforming the world through us.

It is my prayer that people will be able to behold the Christ within me.  And it is my prayer that people will be able to behold the Christ living within you and amongst us.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz