Ad Jesum per Mariam

Rejoice! Jesus Knows You! Implications for Our Spiritual Journey!

Rejoice! Jesus Knows You! Implications for Our Spiritual Journey! We humans, living within time, experience things with a beginning, a middle and an end. However, God does not work that way. With regard to salvation, the end always comes first. That may sound a little strange when we first hear it. The end is always before the beginning. When we think of life, we should know what that statement means. There are two ways of living. One is basically directionless. We drift along and feel caught up in things that move independent of us and are beyond our control. Many of us, if we are not careful, can spend many of our years on earth like this . . . directionless. Direction Implies a Goal This is very different from a life that has direction. Because direction implies a goal. It is a life going somewhere. And because of the light of this direction and goal, I do everything else. First, I know the end, then I know how to begin and what steps to move. Hear the significance of this reflection within the Homily. The Foundation of the New Jerusalem In the first reading of the Apostle John, he tells of the new Jerusalem. We hear this new city has gates and walls. We hear about the twelve tribes of Israel. But these gates and tribes rest upon something. There is a foundation with the names of the twelve Apostles. These twelve men upon whom Jesus built His Church. Israel of old, sits upon the foundation of the Church. It does so, even though in time, the Church comes later. Hmmm. Hear more in the Homily about what this means! What the Lord does is prior to everything else, even though in time, it may have happened later. Why was David king? Because Jesus Christ will come! Why is Abraham called? Because Jesus Christ will come! Why is Israel established? Because the Lord will form a new people. The Church. The Church is not founded on Israel. Israel is founded upon the Church. It is a marvelous mystery. Jesus Knows Bartholomew Before He Meets Him The Gospel talks about Bartholomew meeting Jesus. With the backdrop of the first reading, we hear about this meeting. It’s an odd exchange in scripture. Philip tells Bartholomew they have found the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth. Bartholomew’s response … can anything good actually come from there? Bartholomew asks Jesus, How Do You Know Me? Even before Philip called upon you … I saw you. Hear Bartholomew’s response. How can Jesus know him, if they haven’t met previously? Jesus saw Bartholomew under a fig tree, before they met. Understand the significance of that statement for our own spiritual journey. Before you were even born, Jesus saw you. Jesus looks out and sees you at Mass. He sees you before you do so, listening to this audio. Jesus knows You! What does that mean for our Spiritual Journey? Listen to this Meditation Media. Listen to: Rejoice! Jesus Knows You! Implications for Our Spiritual Journey! --------------------------------- Image: The Apostle Bartholomew: Dutch Painter: Rembrandt: 1657 Note: This image is used because late in the Homily, Jesus Tells Bartholomew He knows him before they meet. Listen more within the Meditation Media. --------------------------------- Gospel Reading: John: 1: 45-51 First Reading: Rv: 21: 9-14

Broadcast on:: 29 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: other

The Lord be with you. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. Philip found Natania and taught him. We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth. But Natania said to him, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Natania coming toward him and said to him, "Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him." Natania said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him. "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree." Natania answered him, "Rabbai, you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel." Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you believe because I taught you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I said to you. You will see heaven opened and the angels of God are standing and distancing on the son of man." The gospel of the Lord. We who live in time experience things a certain way. We experience beginnings, we experience what follows on beginnings, and eventually we experience an ending. But God doesn't work that way. The simple fact of the matter is that with regard to the movement of salvation, the end always comes first. And that sounds strange when we first hear it express that way. The end is always before the beginning. But if we reflect on our lives, we know what that means. There are two ways of living. One is a way that is largely directionless, where we drift along, every day is basically the same, and we feel caught up in things that move independent of us and are beyond our control. And most of us, if we're not careful, will spend many of our days, many of our years living exactly that way. And that's very different from a life that has direction. Because direction implies that there's a goal, that I am going somewhere and know what happens. It's in light of where I am going to go, that I do everything else. First I know the end, then I know how to begin, and then I know how to move. The Lord always works this way. His action is never purposeless. It is never random, and it is never merely a reaction to circumstances. The end always comes first. Before God created the world, God had a reason for making the world. And He knew where it was going to go. And it's in light of that end that God has in mind, that purpose, and that point that everything else happens. This is one of the lessons and mysteries our readings put before us today. First in that mysterious first reading, the vision of the Apostle John, of the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven. And what does He say? The magnificent city with its mighty walls has 12 gates. And over each of those gates is the name of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. But then He says, "But the city rests on something." The city rests on something, those tribes rest on something. And there are 12 mighty foundation stones without which that city will not stand. And those are the 12 apostles of the Lamb. No. Israel of old sits on the foundation of the church, even though in time the church comes later. And why? Because the Lord is going somewhere. What the Lord is doing in Jesus Christ is prior to everything else, even though in history it seems to arrive late. Why was David King? Because Christ will come. Why is Abraham called? Because Christ will come. Why is Israel established? Because the Lord will form a new people, the church. The church is not founded on Israel. Israel is founded on the church. It's a remarkable mystery. And this is what lies beneath this curious conversation Jesus has with Bartholomew, which is arguably the most mysterious of all calls to be an apostle that we have in sacred scripture. Philip finds Bartholomew says, "We found the one, Jesus of Nazareth, and Bartholomew right away." Wait. Can anything good come from there? It's a remarkable question. And it wasn't so much an insult directed toward Nazareth as the idea that we're not expecting anybody from Nazareth. We're not looking for salvation to come from that strange corner. We are not looking for this. How can that be right? It's with that question of how can it be that Bartholomew comes toward Jesus, who even before he arrives says, "Here indeed is a true Israelite with no guile, no deceit within him." And then there's that question. How do you know me? And the mysterious answer that the Lord gives. "Even before Philip, your friend, called you, I saw you." It is not Philip who finds Bartholomew and brings him to Christ. Christ has already seen him. Christ has already known him. Before Bartholomew stands before Jesus, Christ has already known him. The way things work in the world, that doesn't seem to make sense. How could you know me if we haven't met? And yet the Lord says, "Before he called you, I saw you under the fig tree." So let's play with that. Look at all you guys under the trees. Look at all of you guys here under the trees. Obviously they're not fig trees and no one's snacking on them. But we're here under the trees, mainly because no one wants to sit in the sun except for a handful of brave souls. We're under the trees. And the Lord says, "Before anybody ever told you about me, I saw you sitting here under these trees today. Before you were born, I saw you under this tree." And we like to think, "Well, how is that possible? I haven't gotten to the tree yet." And yet the Lord looking out sees you. Why? Because at the very beginning, what do we read and what do we hear? We hear that under a tree in a garden, man and woman fell. And they created a world that was wounded, filled with death and sorrow and despair and needed saving. And as man and woman sinned under that tree, Almighty God came looking for them, not to punish, but to find them. Because the first thing God does when one sins is God comes. He comes to find the sinner. The problem is the sinner hides and where does the sinner hide? Under the trees. And so they hid under the trees of the garden. God comes looking, seeing under the trees where lost man and woman hide themselves. Under those fig trees whose leaves they used to cover their nakedness, God sees them. Man and woman never come out from under those trees to face God. But God sees and God knows. And so there at that moment, seeing Adam and Eve, God sees all of their fallen children too. All of those millions upon millions who will be born into a world desperate in need of salvation and looking out at that world and the woundedness that that wound, that world will know. Looking out into that world, God saw you under this tree and said, I will save you. I will seek you. I will find you. I will go to you, you who try to cover your guilt, you who feel alone and frightened and lost. I will go to you. What a remarkable moment. Oh, before Philip called you, I saw you. I saw you. But the Lord doesn't simply see those who need of salvation. The Lord also sees those through whom his mission of seeking the lost will continue. There, in that garden, in the disaster of the fall, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, looks across all the long ages of the history of the world and fixes his eyes on Bartholomew and says, you will be a part of this. He saw that one he desired. Even as when he looked at you that day, he didn't simply say, I will rescue you. But that you too have a part to play. You too have a role to play. You too will be part of this people that I am establishing. And I am not establishing a single nation. I am establishing a new people, a holy people, a priestly people, a kingly people. And I saw you and I chose you to be a part of that people. This is what we have in front of us. This is the mystery and the vocation of Bartholomew puts it in front of us today in a way that we pause in wonderment at it. And so rightly, the future apostle looks at the Lord. How? What does this mean? You are indeed the king of Israel. You are indeed the one who is to come because he heard in the voice of Jesus a claim. He didn't simply hear a bit of information. Oh, I saw you from a distance. He heard the you. I saw you. I looked for you. I called you. And there's an authority in that statement of Jesus that Bartholomew feels in his heart moving him to respond. I saw you. Note how he insists that there's a belonging here. You belong with me. I am here for you. The apostle recognizes that, names the Lord as the one indeed he has been hoping for, waiting for, basing his life on. And the Lord continues and know how wonderful his response is. Oh, you're impressed with that. Let me tell you more. And he says to Bartholomew, oh, you are going to see heaven come open. And from that opening in heaven, you will witness the angels of Almighty God himself ascending and descending on the Son of Man. And when the Lord speaks this way, he is referring to something, something that happened also near the beginning. When the patriarch Jacob was traveling and slept, he had a dream one night. And in that dream, he saw a golden ladder extending from earth to heaven itself, Almighty God and thrown at the top of that ladder. And on that ladder, the angels of God ascending and descending to earth. He woke up from that dream and said, truly, this is the house of God, the very gate of heaven, this place. But now, look what the Lord says. The dream of Jacob finds its meaning in me. I am the golden ladder. The angels of God ascend and descend by means of me. And no one else. I am the bridge between heaven and earth, the angels of God ascend and descend on me, on the Son of Man. Know how powerful that is? Because then, where is the house of God? Where is the gate of heaven? Where Jesus Christ is found. Because Jesus himself is that true house. Jesus himself is that gate. Jesus is the ladder by which we ascend from earth to heaven, by which the grace of heaven descends to us. How exquisitely wonderful that is. And so, looking up Bartholomew, what else does he say? This new people that I am founding around myself. You. You will be one of the foundation pieces of that new city, that new people. A temple made of living stones, gathered together a building glorious and splendid in honor of God, showing forth the real beauty of what it is to be made in his image and after his likeness. And so, it is here we gather because in just a few minutes that same Jesus Christ is going to be on this altar. He descends here from heaven to be with us. He needs no ladder. He is the ladder. He walks through no gate, he is the gate. We need no earthly house because this is the house because he is the building. He is the building. And how wonderful it is that we here, under our trees, which aren't fig trees, we here are where Jesus has already seen us. And imagine that across the long centuries of the history of the world, the Lord looked out, saw you here today and knew that he would be here and he would wait for you to step forward as Bartholomew did. I already saw you here, under the tree. And as you step forward, what do you do but you stretch out your hand to him? Recognizing who it is that is there. When you hear those words, the body of Christ and you respond with an amen, what does that mean? Rabbi, you are the one who is to come, the king of Israel. You are the one who sees me, who knows me, who claims me. You are that one. And he places himself in your hand. You will see greater than angels ascending and descending, for I will give you my flesh. I will give you myself. And we can say all of these things with confidence, because everything we do here is founded on that same Jesus Christ and those 12 mighty foundation stones, the apostles, upon whom he has chosen to build his church, to construct his people. Everything else that we know is ordered by and determined by that. And why? Because the end always comes before the beginning. And the end that God has marked out for you is eternal life, everlasting joy and the true freedom of the children of God. Should we make it a point to remain always within that building that he has built on the sure and certain foundation of his apostles. Amen.