“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”

“How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment."- St. John Chrysostom

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to Jesus,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever 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?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.
And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”

Today, 4th Saturday of Easter, the Church invites us to consider how important it is for all Christians to be aware that they need to know Christ more and more. Which tools can we rely upon for this? Several, and all of them fundamental: well pondered and attentive reading of the Gospel; our personal involvement when praying, by trying hard to make our prayers become a true dialogue of love, not a mere introspective monologue, and the daily renewed effort to discover Christ in our fellow men: our relatives, our friends, a neighbor perhaps in need of our attention and help, of our advice, of our friendship.

«Lord, show us the Father», asks Philip (Jn 14:8). A good request for us to keep on repeating all this Saturday. —Lord, show me your face. And we may wonder: how is our behavior? Can others see Christ's reflection in me? What little thing could I fight for today? We Christians must find that divine something in our daily chores; God's footprint in all that surrounds us. In our job, in our social life amongst others, everywhere! Or, when we are sick, too: when we are ill it is a good time for us to identify ourselves with a suffering Christ. As St. Therese of the Child Jesus said, «if we do not decide ourselves to swallow once and for all our death and our lack of health, we shall never do anything».

The Lord of the Gospel assures us: «Everything you ask in my name, I will do» (Jn 14:13). —God is my Father and, as a loving Father, He looks after me: He does not want anything to hurt me. Everything that happens —everything that happens to me— is meant for my sanctification. Even though, with our own human eyes we might not understand it. Even though if we can never understand it. That thing —whatever it is— happens because God allows it to happen. Let us trust him just as the Virgin Mary trusted him too.