Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.
“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’ ?But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. ”Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again. ”The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.
REFLECTION
In my younger years, I placed Jesus on my Sunday schedule. The rest of the week was mine and I lived for myself. I knew Jesus and I knew facts about Him and the Bible but, otherwise, I would label myself as a lukewarm Catholic.
Quite frankly I was not aware that Jesus really cared that much for me on a day to day basis. My busy life did not allow me to gaze on Him and my vision of God was like a patient with macular degeneration seeing spotty and at times scattered blind spots.
Little did I know that I was ceaselessly being pursued all these years. I was reminded of The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson. My every move, my thoughts, my actions were known by Him all this time. In spite of me, He still pursued me, ceaselessly and unrelenting, waiting for the right time. Finally, realizing that there was nowhere to go except back to God, I cried out, “ I would like to see Jesus”. And God's grace finally caught me!! The hound of heaven was my good Shepherd, always searching for His lost sheep.
I thank PAPA FACE ZBS (Bible study via zoom) for opening up my eyes and my heart. With teaching by theologian, Father Michael, critical thinking, and understanding Biblical history, I have learned, not so much through the lenses of my emotions, but through the spoken Word of God.
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