To the Father through the Son

Friday, 17 May 2019
4th Week of Easter
1st Reading:
Acts 13:26-33
Gospel: John 14:1-6
Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not be troubled; trust in God and trust in me. In my Father’s house there are many rooms. Otherwise I would not have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. After I have gone and prepared a place for you, I shall come again and take you to me, so that where I am, you also may be. Yet you know the way where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
“How do you get to the sun without getting charred?” a boy asked his playmate. When the playmate couldn’t answer the boy smiled and said: “Just travel to the sun by night”. The joke pushes us deeper into reflection about our relationship with God. Getting near God after our first parents were banished from Paradise was like getting close to the sun. After that Fall nobody could get close to God, not even see him and live. Then God made the first move when the Incarnation took place. The second person of the Trinity became a human being in Jesus. Humanity finally saw the Father since Jesus himself said that in seeing him one sees the Father. In union with Jesus humanity can get close to God.
But getting close to the Son is not a walk in the park. “You must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me”, Jesus said. Of these requirements, self-denial is the hardest because we are naturally selfish. Born into this world with closed fists is illustrative of how self-centered human nature is. This makes following Christ very challenging! But Christ promises relief to those who try (Matthew 11:29), assuring those who come to him of an easier yoke and a lighter burden. The burden is still there; it is just more manageable. The burden, in fact, does not diminish in any measure. But it feels lighter because the person is empowered by grace in carrying it.
Some people ask: If Christ offers rest to those who carry his yoke, how come life begins to feel unbearable to those who start life anew in Christ? Blame it on failure of self-denial. Without self-denial the cross feels very heavy on the shoulder of a self-centered person. Through self-denial one is united with Christ and with the Father. The yoke will feel lighter.
Science has not invented a system of human beings getting to the sun without being charred. Self-denial takes one to a place even higher than where the sun is. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.