FAMILIARITY WITH THE LORD


MONDAY, SIXTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE   

Acts 16:11-15; Ps 149:1-6,9; Jn 15:26-16:4

You will be My Witnesses

The Son of Man does not encounter us only when we hear the Gospel preached to us, but he calls us every day of our lives. We encounter the Son of Man within us, in the testimony of our rational nature. We have often explained how he is the perfection of our nature and therefore, everything good in us answers to him or draws us to him. We encounter him every day as we come to apprehend the created reality which contains his impression and speaks to us about God. We encounter him each time we understand and know a truth; for every truth echoes his voice, beckoning us to communion with him, and to a life in him. Every truth we know, embrace, and live out prepares us for his indwelling within us in spiritual life. Hence, the sheep of the Lord know him and recognise his voice even before they encounter him in the Gospel. The Son of Man made this declaration himself in the Gospel of John 10:15-17. Anyone who consistently shies away from the truth and the light of truth and makes his home in the darkness of lies and falsehood gradually destroys the image he or she shares with the Son of Man and refashions himself or herself in the image of the son of perdition. The story of Judas Iscariot illustrates this.

A positive illustration of the above can be seen in the story of Lydia in the Acts of the Apostles. We read that God opened her heart to accept the Gospel Paul proclaimed; it is evident that she was familiar with the truth and accustomed to harbouring truths in her heart. “We sat down and preached to the women who had come to the meeting. One of these women was called Lydia, a devout woman from the town of Thyatira who was in the purple-dye trade. She listened to us, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying.” It is in this sense that we say that the Gospel is meant for men and women of goodwill. By describing these as people of goodwill, we understand them as the real Israel of God, whom He prepares in all the nations of the world to be His Son’s possession. The hearts of these are already predisposed to the Gospel. But they are not prepared in exclusion of others. The prevenient grace entered and readied them because they continually opened the door of their hearts to truth. The truths of the Lord are not hidden; they are visible to the just all over the world. As is usually the case, nobody is chosen in exclusion of others, but our choice and justification are for the salvation of others who are yet to be gathered from the world unto the Lord. Hence, after her conversion and baptism with her household, we see Lydia making herself, her household, and her possessions aids to the proclamation of the Gospel.

These souls that are low-hanging fruit for the kingdom of God are usually the first fruit of the Gospel proclamation. As these first fruits mix with the men and women of bad or evil wills, many of them are brought to conversion through the power of their testimony in union with the Holy Spirit. We get this same light from the words of our Lord. “When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be my witnesses, because you have been with me from the outset.” Genuine and sincere souls are companions of the Son of Man from the outset. But every one of us can grow familiar with the voice of the Lord by listening to him daily in prayer. Reading and meditating on the scriptures daily would change the wrong bearing of our wills to hunger for the truth. The Lord clarified that many with bad will are mistaken in their understandings and presume they are doing holy service to God when they reject the truth. “They will expel you from the synagogues, and indeed the hour is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is doing holy duty to God. They will do these things because they have never known either the Father or myself.” Therefore, our mission is to proclaim the goodness and mercy of God to all who have never known the revelation of these in Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Psalmist considers it an honour for the faithful to do this. “Let the faithful rejoice in their glory, shout for joy and take their rest. Let the praise of God be on their lips: this honour is for all his faithful.”

Let us pray: Grant, O merciful God, that we may experience at all times the fruit produced by the paschal observances. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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