John 14:6-14 You Will Do Great Things

John 14:6-14 You Will Do Great Things!
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On day, Philip told the Lord, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us [to believe in you]." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves."

So words and works are the way to penetrate the mystery of who Jesus is and who is inside of him. But the Lord goes even further than this. He tells us, "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these." So, just as importantly, our words and works will reveal the mystery of who we are and who is inside of us.

Jesus tells his disciples, "A new commandment I give you: Love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (Jn 13:34-35)

Edith Zirer was a 13 year old Jewish girl back in 1945. She had just been liberated from the Hassak concentration camp. After three years in the camp she came out emaciated, sick, alone, weary and near death. It was a miracle that she climbed on top of a coal train on a cold winter day in January. She had nothing to wear except the stripped uniform given to her by the Nazi guards. She felt so cold and miserable from the journey that she got off the train, fell down on the floor and rolled herself up in a little ball in some corner of the small station. That's where she saw a young man, dressed in a long black robe, heading towards her. She recalls that he was "very good looking." The young man was still a seminarian. He did not hesitate to come close to her and ask her what her name was. "Edith", she replied. A little later, she would come to realize that he was the first person to call her by name in three years and not by the number on her arm. The man disappeared twice only to return with something hot for her to drink and eat. Edith could not stand so the young man "took me in his arms and carried me for a long time." All the while the snow fell. They traveled together to Krakow. He covered her in his brown jacket and spoke to her about his parents' and only brother's death; how he felt lonely and the need to not be overcome by sorrow. She asked him what his name was and she would never forget it. He said, "My name is Karol Wojtyla."

Thirty-three years later she would see that name again, from Israel, in the headlines of the Haifa newspapers: "Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II!" On March 23rd, 2000, she surprised the world and told her story at the Yad Vashem Memorial to the Holocaust. She was able to personally thank the Pope, the man who saved her life 55 years ago. He was present at the Memorial.

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these. Yes, he called us by name, even though we were weak and weary. He lifted us up even when we were filthy in sin. He carried us upon his shoulders even though we were at the point of death. He called us by name and loved us to death.

What did Jesus mean when he told his followers they would do greater works than his? What could be greater than Christ's miracles except that we would be witnesses to them in our life time.

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us!