Homily for 23 Apr 2016

23 Apr 2016

All week long we’ve heard Jesus say essentially the same thing: The Father is in him, and he is in the Father.  But today he asks whether or not we believe that.  Even for people of faith, it strikes us as odd to think of Jesus as the face of the Father; that when we see an image of Jesus, we’re seeing an image of the Father.  But that’s what he asks us to accept and to believe.

Of course, this is the model for our relationship with Jesus.  We eat his Body, we drink his Blood, we let his Holy Spirit into our minds and hearts, we take in his words.  And Jesus says to us—in so many words: “I am in you, and you are in me.”  And he follows that up with the same question as before: “Do you believe this?” 

When people encounter us do they encounter the face of the living Son of God?  Or when we encounter other people, do we see them as the face of Christ?  More often than not, the answer is probably “no.”  But that’s what Jesus asks us to accept and believe about his relationship with us: He is in us, and we are in him. 

But if that’s hard to believe, Jesus says, believe because of the works we do.  For instance, every time we love our neighbor (or are loved by our neighbor) there’s Jesus at work.  Every time there is comfort and consolation shared among people, there’s Jesus at work.  Every time a hard truth is spoken in charity, there’s Jesus at work.

If it’s hard to believe the concept that Jesus is in us, and we are in him, Jesus says: Believe because of the works I do through you and with you.  May we go throughout this day with eyes wide open, to see how much Jesus really is in us.