The Father is in me and I am in the Father

FRIDAY 3 APRIL (Jn 10, 31-42)

The mystery of Christ Jesus is made up of two truths: the first truth is that of his divinity which is eternal and invisible, the second is that of his humanity, which begins in time and is visible. From the moment of incarnation, the whole invisible mystery manifests itself in the visible mystery, the invisible truth acts through the visible truth. Jesus does not ask scribes and Pharisees to believe in the eternal and invisible mystery, he asks them not to deny the fruits produced by the invisible mystery in the visible mystery. After all, Jesus applies to them the same rule of analogy that Wisdom asks of idolaters: “For all men were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of God, and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is, and from studying the works did not discern the artisan; But either fire, or wind, or the swift air, or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water, or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods. Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods, let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these; for the original source of beauty fashioned them. Or if they were struck by their might and energy, let them from these things realize how much more powerful is he who made them. For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen. But yet, for these the blame is less; For they indeed have gone astray perhaps, though they seek God and wish to find him. For they search busily among his works, but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair. But again, not even these are pardonable. For if they so far succeeded in knowledge that they could speculate about the world, how did they not more quickly find its Lord?” (Wis 13,1-9). When you do not reach the invisible through the visible, even if not in a perfect way – in a perfect way you can only come through revelation – it is a sign of great foolishness and insipidity. But nature, created in the image and likeness of God does not generate foolishness and ignorance, sin which obscures the mind and makes the heart of stone produces it. When the use of the mind in things that concern God is lost, one must always seek sin and remove it from the heart.

The Jews again picked up rocks to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”‘? If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize (and understand) that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”  (Then) they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power. He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. Many came to him and said, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” And many there began to believe in him.

Jesus is divinely wise, beyond all human wisdom. All his eternal wisdom is manifested through the wisdom of the true man, in which he grew every day. He uses the Psalm to remove the accusation of having made himself the Son of God, an accusation that could have caused an immediate stoning – “I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High. “Nevertheless you will die like men And fall like any one of the princes” (Ps 82 (81), 6-7). Then he appeals to his works. These, beyond any reasonable doubt, attest to their divine origin. They come from the Father. If they come from God there is a relationship of Jesus with God that goes far beyond that experienced by those who came before him. The same rationality is asked of us today. We have forsaken Christ Jesus. But which fruits have we produced for the better? None. We are regressing in such a great inhumanity, to overcome that of the pagans themselves who never knew Christ the Lord and not even the true God. This inability to understand is the result of sin. Sin always generates foolishness, ignorance and hardness of heart.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, help us to free ourselves from all sin. It is the way of life.