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Gospel: John 14: 21-26
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,
“Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name —
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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When was the last time you saw Jesus? Or felt comforted by his presence?
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It’s an odd question if you’re looking for his flesh and bones, or a loud trumpet sounding from the heavens.
Christ reveals himself to us constantly, but in humbler ways. So humble that if you’re not attuned to looking for him, then he’ll pass you by.
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When the Lord first appeared here on earth, he didn’t tear the heavens open by arriving in a blazing chariot of fire. Rather, he came as a helpless baby.
He connected himself to a family, and over the next thirty years, he taught them how to live and love as he did. When the appointed time for his public ministry came, he chose the twelve Apostles, forming them in his school of mercy day by day.
In a word, Jesus spent his life building relationships – relationships that slowly turned people into living examples of his love.
As he says in today’s Gospel, “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me… and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
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This how we can still see and feel the Lord today – through ordinary Christians who have learned how to live as Christ has commanded us.
As one Spanish mystic once wrote:
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks with
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
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So, when was the last time you saw Jesus?
Hopefully, you can turn to your neighbor and say, the last time I saw you.
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Image credits: (1) Kate Palazzi (2) Holy Owned and Operated (3) Christianity.com