Pray for an understanding of how much God loves us.
In this homily Fr. Jacques Philippe, who visited the parish in mid-March 2018, and delivered his homily in French but with the aid of an interpreter, asks us whether we know who Jesus is. Who is Jesus for me? Do I really know him? In the bible to know someone is not simply to have information about them, but to have friendship with someone. If someone is not my friend, I cannot say that I truly know them. In this gospel, Jesus says that he knows his heavenly Father, and this means that he loves him and does his will. Jesus receives life from the Father and in return he gives everything to God.
We too can ask Jesus that we have a relationship with him that is deep friendship, just as Jesus had with the Father. We give everything to him and we love him, and he gives us life. He saves each of us individually. God is close to the brokenhearted. He is close to us especially in difficult moments. Let us ask the Lord to help us to know and love him more. Let us pray that during this season of Lent and the coming Easter season we can begin to understand how much God loves us, and instead of remaining on the outside we can enter in deeply into that love.
