I have made you a light to the Nations

 Acts 13:44-52, Jn 14:7-14. When Paul and Barnabas were expelled from the Synagogue and extradited from the territory, what seemed a failure actually served the spread of the Gospel. At least that was how Paul saw it. In today’s first reading, Paul quotes from Isaiah: “I have made you a light to the nations, a means of salvation to the ends of the world.” We can apply this principle in any crisis or change, trusting that the whole process is under the loving providence of our God.

In today’s Gospel, Philip expressed something of this when he asked Jesus: “Let us see the Father, and then we shall be satisfied.” If only he could see the face of God all his longings would be satisfied. Jesus replied: “To have seen me is to have seen the Father.” It is He who reveals the Father; He is the way to the Father. We cannot see the face of God in this life, but God has sent us His Son. We cannot see Jesus physically as the Apostles saw Him, but we can see Him with the eyes of faith. We can meet Him in His word, in the Eucharist, in the other Sacraments, in each other.

May the Lord strengthen us in our path and in what we do, for His greater glory, so that by our exemplary lives, we may truly bring the Lord closer to all we encounter in life! Amen!! Happy weekend!!!