This is the second to the last weekend before the end of the Paschal Season. On Thursday of this coming week, May 25th, we will celebrate the feast of the Ascension of our Lord – which marks the 40th day after the Resurrection. Next week we will remember the Fathers of the Nicaea Council which began the work of the Church in declaring Jesus as both God and Man. This Council took place ion 325 CE in the city of Nicaea.

It took the Church a number of centuries to actually recognize that Jesus, who performed so many wondrous works and who also appeared to His followers after His death, that He was God who became incarnate (i.e., became a human being) in order to reveal to humans the true meaning and purpose of life.

In today’s Gospel we hear John attributing these words to Jesus: “I am the light of the world.” Indeed, Jesus gives life to this world. He reveals to us the meaning and purpose of life.

What is the meaning and purpose of life? To use all the challenges of life as opportunities to truly trust in God, our Heavenly Father. Perhaps the greatest revelation Jesus made to mankind is that God is actually our FATHER – our Abba.

The Epistle confirms this. The young girl who was a clairvoyant, declares that Paul and his companions, who were professed followers of Jesus, the Christ, were servants of the “most high God.” People who are followers of Jesus are the servants of the Most High God, our Heavenly Father. If you follow Jesus, you know that you see God as your Heavenly Father and you realize that it is God’s own Spirit which causes you to declare this to be true. We only come to know God because God Himself gives us the help to be able to recognize this truth.

I think that the Epistle tells us of the unique ways that God chooses to reveal Himself to us. We should never think that we know how God chooses to reveal Himself to us. He always does it in very unique ways. We must be open to accepting the way that He chooses to reveal Himself. We know this to be true. If we are open to His revelation of Himself, He will do it in ways that we least expect. This. I feel, is the loving way that He makes Him-self known to us. If we open our hearts and mind to Him, we will find that He reveals Himself in ways that we never anticipate.

We should always remember that God loves us and makes every attempt to reveal Himself to us so that we may know that we are loved and that this life is only a vehicle to bring us to a deeper relationship with Him! Because He gave us free will, He will never force us to recognize Him. This is because He desires our free response to His love.

Let us not be blind to the many opportunities we are given to come to know Him. Let us embrace His gift of love.