Dear friends, in the last issue we read how important it is for us to know God. We must come to know Him to the extent we realize we belong to Him. We must reach the stage where we hear Him say, "You are my own dear Son." But then, we saw that this is just not possible if we rely on the limited knowledge that we have about God. God must open our minds. And we saw that Jesus alone can open our minds to know who the Father is and to recognize His voice.
In John 17, Jesus prayed to the Father for His disciples. He said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son, so that the Son may give glory to you. For you gave Him authority over all people, so that He might give eternal life to all those you gave Him. (John 17:1-2). Kindly note that the authority to grant eternal life is given only to Jesus. In the following verse, Jesus gives us an idea of what eternal life means. "Eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent. (John 17:3). So, putting all three verses together, we can conclude that we cannot come to know the Father unless we know Jesus. That is what St. Paul meant when he wrote... Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15). And in Colossians 2:3, he went on to say, "Jesus is the key that opens all the hidden treasures of God's wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3). Therefore, it is very clear that we will never be able to know God unless Jesus opens our minds.
Now, when Jesus opens our minds, the first thing that happens is we recognize Him. In Luke 24, we are told about the incident where He appeared to two of His followers on the way to Emmaus. He explained to them what was said about Himself in all the Scriptures. (Luke 24:27). And a little later, He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then He broke the bread and gave it to them. (Luke 24:27). Note what happened next...Their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. (Luke 24:31).
Later, we are told that Jesus appeared to His disciples. Although they had heard His teachings, they did not recognize Him. They could not believe it was Him. That is when He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:45). The result of this was they worshiped Him and went back into Jerusalem, filled with great joy, and spent all their time in the Temple giving thanks to God. (Luke 24:53). So many good things happened as a result of their minds being opened by Jesus to the Scriptures. We know that after going to Jerusalem, they received the Holy Spirit; they started proclaiming the Gospel just as Jesus commanded them. (Acts 2:14-1, 8:4). And the Holy Spirit guided them in doing God's will. This shows that much depends on our minds being opened by Jesus.
St. Paul had the experience of his mind being opened by Jesus. The more his mind was opened, the more he longed to know Jesus. All I want is to know Christ... (Philippians 3:10). In writing to the Corinthians, he said... I will now talk about visions and revelations given me by the Lord. (2 Corinthians 12:1). Having had such divine experiences, Paul was convinced of one thing: God wanted all His people to know Him and His Son Jesus. That is why, he would even pray for those he was ministering to, that they too may have the same experience... For this reason we have always prayed for you, ever since we heard about you. We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will, with all the wisdom and understanding that His Spirit gives. Then you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will always do what pleases Him. Your lives will produce all kinds of good deeds, and you will grow in your knowledge of God. (Colossians 1: 9-10).
Every time Jesus opens our minds, He leaves a lasting impression on the soul. You know deep within you that it was Him. You know what He wants of you. And such moments result in the transformation of the soul. You feel compelled to do whatever He tells you. Recently, BBC News carried an article on Sister Clare, who died at the age of 33 and who has now been declared a Servant of God by the Catholic Church, the first step towards being officially recognised as a saint. Becoming a nun for her was the last thing on earth. Instead, she wanted to be a famous actress. Her life was full of partying, drinking and smoking. Yet, God worked unexpectedly in her life. At an unplanned Holy Week retreat, while she was kissing the wounds of Jesus on the cross on Good Friday, her mind was suddenly opened. In that moment of grace, she realised that Jesus had died for all her sins. On another occasion, she experienced the overwhelming presence of Jesus and felt Him saying to her, “Why do you keep wounding me?” Eventually, she felt compelled to give her life to Him. She finally abandoned her acting career and became a nun.
Therefore, let our hearts keep seeking Jesus all the time. Let us look forward to those moments when Jesus will open our minds and we will come to know Him. He must become a reality as He became in Paul's life, in the life of Sr. Clare Crockett and many others. Once this happens, nothing else will matter. Like Paul, we will only want to know Him more and more (Philippians 3:10). And in knowing Him, we will come to know the Father. As Jesus Himself said, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9).