This week's homily was not recorded due to technical difficulties.
5th Sunday of Easter
Cycle A
May 18, 2014 9:00 and
10:30am
Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air
He/She Looks Like…
I
imagine that most of us have had the experience of seeing a newly-born baby.
Almost
always family members and friends look closely at the baby’s physical features. They try to see who the baby looks like or
takes after.
We
hear things like: “He has his father’s forehead and hair.” “She
has her mother’s eyes.”
“He’s got his grandfather’s jaw.” “She has her grandmother’s complexion.”
What’s
underneath this is that we like to see characteristics that identify a baby as
a member of the family. Or to put it
another way, we like to see family members in the physical features of a baby.
What Does God Look Like?
Maybe we have not thought about it this way, but
Jesus gets us caught up in something like this with God.
Here is what I have in mind. We and maybe most human beings wonder: what
is God really like?
Over the centuries, our human imagination has
produced many images of God. Artists have
depicted God all the way from the concrete image of a grandfatherly old man to
the abstract concept of a bright light.
And all of these images of God are important. They have consequences on us as persons and on
the way we relate to God and to one another.
For example, we may have an image of God as
vindictive, like some of the Old Testament writers did. This can lead us to be vindictive or harsh toward
others.
Or our primary image of God may be as a judge. This can lead us to feel distant from God and
afraid of God and inappropriately guilty.
So, how we image God and see God’s traits and
characteristics is very important. It
forms us as persons and effects how we relate to others.
God Looks like Jesus
In today’s gospel, Philip asks the question that most
human beings have asked in some way.
Philip asks Jesus, “Show
us the Father” – “Show us God.” He
wants to know what God is like.
Jesus responds, “He
who has seen me has seen the Father.”
“I am in the Father, and the
Father is in me.”
So Jesus is saying that he is like a clear pane of glass
through we which we can see God clearly.
He is the full and accurate self-disclosure of God.
In Jesus’ very being, in his concerns, in his thoughts,
and in his actions, he shows us the mind and heart of God. So, like looking at a baby and seeing the
parents or grandparents in the baby’s features, we can look at Jesus and see the
Father, God himself.
Mystery and Knowledge
So, when we hear Jesus saying, “Let those among you who are without sin
cast the first stone,” we know that God is patient and accepting of our
humanity. When we see Jesus mingling
with tax collectors and other so-called sinners, we know that God is inclusive
and outreaching.
When we hear Jesus talking about
the shepherd seeking out the one lost sheep, we know that God values each one
of us personally. And when we hear Jesus
saying “Whatever you do for the least of
my brothers and sisters, that you do for me,” we know that God is
especially compassionate toward anyone who is hurting in any way.
These images of God can have an
effect on who we are and how we relate.
They can lead us to be patient, forgiving, inclusive, outreaching,
compassionate and all the rest.
No question, we still believe
that God is mystery and is beyond our human ability to understand completely. But by looking at Jesus and his
characteristics, we can know a great deal about God.
