Show Us The Father

"Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us," demanded Philip. (Jn 14: 8). We can imagine the exasperation of Jesus in the tone of his reply: "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoeaver has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?" (Jn 14: 9). Are we not like Philip? How many times have we received communion at Holy Mass, heard the Gospels, read them ourselves, done service projects to be of assistance to the needy, and yet, somehow have missed the boat? How well do we know Jesus? Can we say that we have seen the Father from our knowledge of Jesus? Philip's "blindness" is our own, but it can be the invitation, the nudge, to deepen our knowledge and understanding of Jesus, by taking up the Gospels and again reading them slowly and reflectively so that we see and hear Jesus to the point that we are able to converse with him naturally as with a close friend. Our prayer can be, "Lord, show me who you are, help me to spend time with you so that I can learn more about you, and come to love you as a friend, a brother. Thank you for your patience with me; see that I am deeply sincere in my desire to know you and through you come to know and love the Father. Amen."