Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Saturday, 3 May 2014 - Catholic Meditations

Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Meditation for Saturday, 3 May 2014 - Catholic Meditations
Meditations: John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him.”
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake. 12 Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father. 13 Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.
Saints Philip and James, Apostles
Show us the Father. (John 14:8)
Sometimes something obvious is right in front of us, but we don’t recognize it. As the adage goes, we can have a hard time seeing the forest for the trees! This was Philip’s problem. After three years with Jesus, he still couldn’t see the Father in the face of this powerful rabbi. He couldn’t see “the image of the invisible God” in him, even though it was right before his eyes (Colossians 1:15)!
Still, who could blame Philip for stating openly what was probably on all the disciples’ minds at the Last Supper? We have all made the same request at one time or another: “Show me the Father.” But Jesus gently admonishes him, saying, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father… . Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?” (John 14:9, 10).
It would only be after Philip and the disciples had witnessed the resurrection and received the Spirit at Pentecost that they would be able to see the whole forest and not just a bunch of individual trees. Then they would see that Jesus’ every word and action—from his sermons and miracles to his off-the-cuff acts of kindness and compassion—had come from the heart of his Father.
This is the very message that they have passed on to us. As papal preacher Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa once wrote, “If the written word of the Bible could be changed into a spoken word and become one single voice, this voice, more powerful than the roaring of the sea, would cry out: The Father loves you!”
Your Father loves you! He loves you just as much as he loves Philip and James. He doesn’t love you less because you haven’t given your life as an apostle or martyr. He just loves you. Let this truth sink into your heart today. Let the message of the Father’s love fill you. Let it move you to go out and share this good news with everyone you meet.
“Father, thank you for loving me completely and unconditionally. Lord, help me become a messenger of your love today.” Amen.
1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
Psalm 19:2 Day after day they pour out speech,
    and night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language,
    where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth,
    their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5     which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room,
    like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.
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