eyes wide open

Acts 14:5-18; Psalm 115 Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory; John 14:21-26

"Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him."

These are the words of Jesus today in the gospel.  They are pertinent words to all of us each and every day.  

We live in an age of great spiritual malaise. People are trying many things to awaken their spiritual fervor, to be connected to the divine, or to tap into their inner strength. 

Many people search for the presence of God, hoping to catch a glimpse as they squint through the lenses of 'new age' spirituality.  What remains is a lot of people walking around squinting only to discover it hasn't sharpen their vision one bit.  Their fervor only last a little while.

Or we have people who convince themselves that they have to feel a certain way in order to have that connection.  They thrive on the 'high' they get from retreats only to discover their addictive personality, they like the 'high' more than reality.  It also leaves them with a spiritual hang over. 

So what are we to do.  

Jesus tells us plainly in the gospel, "Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.  Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him."

The mystical life meets the proverbial road only in the daily grind of ready obedience and love in fulfilling the commandments of Jesus.  We waste our time looking for God unless we fortify our vision by loving those around us.  Only in the dirty job of loving in the little ways do we give ourselves a chance to see what our hearts have longed to see because only then do we truly live with our eyes wide open and see the face of God. 

We cannot wait for Jesus to show himself to us; we must seek to love only then will we see more clearly.  Thus, every Christian will be a mystic or nothing at all as they tread the narrow road.

Excerpt from St. John Vianney

"The Father takes pleasure in looking upon the heart of the most holy Virgin Mary, as the masterpiece of his hands...The Son takes pleasure in it as the heart of his Mother, the source from which he drew the blood that ransomed us."