Today is the Fifth Sunday of Easter.
In the Gospel of John, our Lord has a teaching moment with his apostles.
We should remember that the apostles were the first-hand witnesses of Our Lord’s life and ministry. They had encounters with our Lord, they ate and drank with him, they travelled with him, they rested and recreated with Him, they could ask Him questions. They could stretch out their hands, literally, and touch God who became incarnate, God who became man. And yet, despite this comfortable closeness, many of them did not fully understand who He was, or fully recognize His message. Several weeks ago, during the Passion we heard of these crucial moments of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal and Peter’s denial of Jesus. However, it was not just Judas and Peter. Philip and the other apostles too, do not seem to understand who Jesus is. This lack of understanding causes Our Lord to say to Philip, “Have I been with you all this time and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father.” Looking at this exchange between Jesus and Philip, we can see that it is possible to get comfortable with the divinity, and almost “get used to it,” so to speak. It is possible to see signs, wonders, and marvels, and get used to them, taking them for granted. Have we gotten too comfortable with the divine presence among us? Have we retained the ability to marvel at God’s mighty works around us?
Today (Sunday), we will have the First Holy Communion of a dozen children from St. Hedwig’s parish. As we see these children being carefully prepared, as we see them being so excited to receive Our Lord and Saviour for the first time, as we see their glowing eyes and their attention to what is happening, it would be good to rekindle this sense of wonder among us. We need to rediscover the wonder of the Eucharist, with the eyes of a child. We need to rediscover the great privilege of being able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, who is God. We too get to touch Christ, hear His words in the Scriptures, and witness the miracles that He still does among His beloved people. Christ is still working among us. He is healing, purifying, guiding, and shepherding His beloved people. St. Athanasius of Alexandria, an Eastern Father of the Church, had this to say: “what things the Son does, are works of the Father; the Son is the Image of the Father’s Godhead, which does those works” (The Faith of the Early Fathers, William A. Jurgens ed., vol. 1, pg. 331, 1970). So, where Christ is, there is the Father and the Holy Spirit, acting with one purpose.
Speaking of the Holy Spirit: we had twenty candidates receive their Sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop Guy, this past Wednesday night. You could also see the excitement of the newly-confirmed, as they had an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. There was a joy, and a freshness, in this celebration. The Holy Spirit does indeed give life, even after days of darkness and cloud.
There was one person who spent thirty years with Jesus Christ, without losing that sense of wonder, that sense of awe, in front of the incarnate God. That person was the Blessed Virgin Mary. We are now in May, Her month. She marvelled at Her son, Jesus Christ, at his wisdom and knowledge, at his strength and might, at his compassion and gentleness. Mother Mary marvelled and was filled with wonder at the sight of Christ’s miracles, She marvelled and grieved at the sight of His crucifixion, and She also marvelled and rejoiced at His resurrection. To paraphrase the Christ’s answer to the apostle Philip from today’s Gospel, Mary was with Jesus “all this time,” and yes, she knew Him. She can help us to retain this sense of wonder and awe at the sacred, at the things of God, that surround us.
We close with a prayer: Lord Jesus, you are the One who is coming back, to take us to yourself. Help us to wait for you with expectant joy. May your mother, the Ever-Virgin Mary, help us to notice the signs and wonders you give us in these days.
(Fr. Paweł Ratajczak, OMI, May 7, 2023)