Jesus alone makes us see the Father fully.

We can see the Father fully, even here below, through his only Son.  He is in the bosom of the Father there above.

That is because the only Son has become flesh and dwelt among us in Jesus.  He is the same as the one who is in the bosom of the Father in the beginning.  At present, he is in the Father and the Father is in him.

So, to see Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, is to see the Father.  To look at the weak and helpless Jesus is to look at the Lord who is our strength and stronghold.  When Jesus helps us, the Lord God helps us.  If “God-with-us” is on our side, we are not afraid.  What can anyone do to us?

That is why Jesus urges us not to fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  They cannot do anything to anyone in whom Jesus abides.  Jesus rose from death.  So, mockers at Golgotha could not fully delight with ill will in the distress and shame of the Crucified.  Gloaters who say, “Let’s see if he slips, so we can dupe him,” do so uselessly.

In other words, it is better to trust in the Lord than to rely on humans.  It is better to entrust our cause to Jesus and his poverty, weakness and foolishness, than to trust in princes and their wealth, strength and wisdom.

What profit would there be for us to gain the whole world and forfeit our life?

We strive to guard against all greed.  Greed dulls the feeling of the rich fool and numbs his tenderness.  He falls in love with himself.  In contrast to Adam who wonders when he sees Eve, the rich man sees himself as his own helpmate.  That is why he is less human.

And nameless, unfulfilled, is the rich man who lacks concern.  The poor man, on the other hand, has the name Lazarus, “God is my help.”  That is because God rescues the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.  Eternal life is the outcome likewise of those who make their distrust of human strength the basis of the trust that we have to put in God (cf. SV.EN III:143).

We cannot see either Jesus or the Father unless we see those crucified with Christ in the outskirts.  Heaven remains closed to those who do not acknowledge them before human beings.  And lack of concern means one does not share yet in the grace of the one person Jesus Christ.

Lord, make us see the Eucharist as the source and summit of the procession of people going to and coming from those in need (cf. SV.EN IX:192).

25 June 2017
12th Sunday in O.T. (A)
Jer 20, 10-13; Rom 5, 12-15; Mt 10, 26-33