Jn 14:7-14 Finding God

Jn 14:7-14 Finding God

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“If you know me, then you will also know my Father…Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

How can we find God? I think the answer rests in the Instruction Manual, in the Holy Bible: “Go throughout the world and baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And remember, I will be with you till the end of time.” A great way for anyone to find God is to see Him in his people.

Someone once told me a delightful story. I cannot remember where or when it took place. I just remember the most important part of the story. It goes something like this: A parishioner asked the local pastor if he could put him in contact with someone who was on fire for the Lord. The pastor instinctively said, “Of course.” But when he began to think about it, he could not think of a single name in his parish. So what did he do? He resolved to be that person! He brought his parish back to life. I would not be surprised if that parishioner was the Lord.

A great way for anyone to find God is to see Him in his people. But the best way to find God is to seek Him. This is what happened to Andre Frossard. He was born in France in 1915. His parents were members of the Communist Party. His Father was the first Secretary General (head) of that party! He was educated in a totally atheistic environment. He encountered the Lord at the age of twenty and in a very surprising way. While waiting at a bus stop he decided to enter, for the first time in his life, a Church. It was a Catholic Church. He walked in at 5:10 pm an atheist and walked out at 5:15 pm a “Catholic, Apostolic and Roman!” In his hard-to-find autobiography, God Exists and I have Met Him, he writes “When I walked into the Church I was twenty years old. When I walked out I was a child, ready to be baptized.” He became a world renowned journalist and a great defender of the faith. He was also somewhat of a prophet. When Blessed John Paul II was elected Pope, he wired his French newspaper, “This is not a Pope from Poland. This is a Pope from Galilee.” He was right!

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these.”

What are some of things we can do to help others find God? 1) We should take time, on a daily basis, to meditate on the life of the Lord so that we can offer our friends (and strangers) someone other than ourselves. 2) We should offer up our prayers for those who are in need, and let them know that they and their intentions are being looked after. 3) We should always invite non-Catholics to the Catholic Church. After all, it is a gift that many of us received from birth. And if that is the case, then you should know why: We have been called to be in the front lines of the new evangelization. 4) We should never turn our backs on anyone, not even the hardest of basket cases.

This past Easter, over 900 former Anglicans were received into the Catholic Church, including sixty-one former Church of England priests. The priest shortage in England just officially came to an end. The Lord provided in a way that had never been imagined! Once again, it is a sign from God that he loves his Church. Even the recent scandals are a sign of God’s love for His Church: He is purging and purifying at the same time. He is making holy his bride.