Saturday, April 27, 2024
Acts 13:44-52; Jn 14:7-14
Today’s Gospel helps us understand the magic of faith in our lives.
Two points deserve our attention.
Believers as Successors: Jesus makes it very clear that only our faith in Jesus makes us his successors. However, there is something unique about succeeding Jesus. In the secular world, succession works differently in that people thrive by replacing their predecessors. Whereas, as successors of Jesus, we thrive by replicating him in our lives. As DNA is known to replicate itself in the cell nucleus, believers thrive when they replicate Jesus in their lives.
Radiating Jesus: What believers succeed in doing is radiating Jesus in a way that people will understand that Jesus has ‘returned’ through our works. The believers act ‘in persona Christi.’ In other words, when we function as successors of Jesus, others find Jesus acting from inside of us. People will sense the spiritual presence of Jesus in and through our physical acts. In sum, God makes a return through the acts of the believing community.
We understand the statements of Jesus better when we look at the lives of the apostles.
After the experience at Pentecost, the apostles understand themselves differently when they function in the name of Jesus. They not only do remarkable things in Jesus’ name but also witness a more extended and successful mission.
Thus, faith in Jesus is profoundly transformative.
How blessed are we to succeed Jesus and replicate him in our lives!
Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar
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