Know God!

Last updated on: April 18, 2013 at 8:29 am by Kathryn Jean Lopez

Know God! 2013-04-18T08:29:57-05:00 Kathryn Jean Lopez

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“We believe in God who is Father, who is Son, who is Holy Spirit. We believe in Persons, and when we talk to God we talk to Persons: or I speak with the Father, or I speak with the Son, or I speak with the Holy Spirit. And this is the faith.”

That was Pope Francis at Thursday morning Mass, begging us to be drawn deeper into the reality of the Trinity.

“Faith is a gift that begins in our encounter with Jesus, a real, tangible person and not an intangible essence, ‘mist’ or ‘spray’,” he said.

He echoes some of the parting words of Pope Benedict here — and the message of his papacy. A lead message of Christianity!

Jesus also says that no one can come to him “unless drawn by the Father who sent me.” Pope Francis said that these words show that “to go to Jesus, to find Jesus, to know Jesus, is a gift” that God bestows on us, according to the Vatican Radio translation.

Pope Francis was encouraging, cautioning against discouragement:

those who have faith have eternal life, they have life. But faith is a gift, it is the Father who gifts it. We must continue on this path. But if we travel this path, it is always with our own baggage — because we are all sinners and we all always have things that are wrong. But the Lord will forgive us if we ask for forgiveness, and so we should always press onwards, without being discouraged – but on that path what happened to the royal treasurer will happen to us too.

He pointed to the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, where Christ sends Philip to explain the Old Testament in the light of the Resurrection to an officer of the court of the Queen of Egypt. That officer — observed Pope Francis — was not a “common man” but a royal treasurer and because of this, “we may think he was a bit attached to the money”, “a careerist.” Yet, said the Pope, when this individual listens to Philip speak to him of Jesus “he hears that it is good news”, “he feels joy,” to the point of being baptized in the first place they find water… “And he went on his way rejoicing.”

“It is the joy of faith,” Pope Francis observed, “the joy of having encountered Jesus, the joy that only Jesus gives us, the joy that gives peace: not what the world gives, but what gives Jesus. This is our faith. We ask the Lord to help us grow in this faith, this faith that makes us strong, that makes us joyful, this faith that always begins with our encounter with Jesus and always continues throughout our lives in our small daily encounters with Jesus. ”

But “who is this God you believe in?” Pope Francis asked, during the morning homily. It’s a question that should lead us to prayer, lead us to Him. Perhaps we can start this day with a reflection on the Holy Father’s own meditation: “We believe in God who is Father, who is Son, who is Holy Spirit. We believe in Persons, and when we talk to God we talk to Persons: or I speak with the Father, or I speak with the Son, or I speak with the Holy Spirit. And this is the faith.”

He didn’t make this up, it comes from Jesus — God who walked this earth and walks with us today on the path to eternal life with Him — as recorded by John:

Jesus said to the crowds: «No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets: ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Go to God. That’s all He asks. Make time for Reconciliation today. Make time for Mass. Make time for prayer. Encounter the Risen Christ. Pray to hear with our Father’s ears, to see with His eyes, to love with His Heart. Be ablaze with the power of the Holy Spirit. Invite the world to the eternal wedding feast we can get but a glorious, consoling, igniting taste of in prayer, in the Trinitarian life.

Know that “no one has ever desires anything more than God desires to share the communion of his Trinitarian love with us.”

Uncategorized

Encounter with Christ

Pope Frances

Trinity

Previous Post

April 17, 2013

Why Does God Allow an Eight-Year-Old Boy to be Killed Waiting for His Dad at the Finish Line?

Next Post

April 19, 2013 Habemus Papam!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category B16 Christian Persecution Christianity Today Culture Good Links/Must Read HHS Mandate Holy Land Must Reads Prayer Religious Liberty Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Old Testament law was summarized as "love your neighbor as yourself"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Only 10th commandment Book of Leviticus only The whole law First five commandments