“You know Christ! You know who He is! Yours is a great privilege!” (Pope Saint John Paul II).
I have been reflecting on my own feelings of privilege over the last few days. You see, so many times, I rely on my own pre-conceived notions of importance, my own ideas and my own opinions…
And today – as I reflect on the behaviour of the Jews when Christ was alive – if occurs to me that this self-importance and privilege is the very thing that is holding me back from the truth…
“Some of the people of Jerusalem said, ‘Is not this the Man whom they seek to kill? And here He is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to Him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? Yet we know where this Man comes from; and when the Christ appears, no one will know where He comes from.’ So Jesus proclaimed, as He taught in the temple, ‘You know Me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of My own accord; He who sent Me is true, and Him you do not know. I know Him, for I come from Him, and He sent Me.’” (John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30).
You see, in that story we are told that the Jews saw Christ – saw all the miracles that He did, and heard all the things that He said – and decided that “…we know where this Man comes from…” And because they already KNEW, they decided that they could no longer believe what their eyes saw or what their ears heard. Instead, they could believe only wht they had already decided with their minds.
And I have been reflecting on this today as I have been reflecting on the privilege of conversion. You see, the world was changed by Saints who were converted. I have only to think of Saint Paul the Apostle, who began his life as Saul – enemy of Christians and the man who authorised the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, the first martyr of the Catholic Church…
“Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:58-60).
And it occurs to me today to keep the words of Pope Saint John Paul II in mind, for he said, “Many people do not know or do not want to know who Jesus Christ is, and they remain perplexed and disconcerted... The great tragedy of history is that Jesus is not known, and therefore is not loved, not followed. You know Christ! You know who He is! Yours is a great privilege! Always be worthy and aware of it!”
And that is what I pray for today – the Grace to always be wot=rthy and aware of the great privilege it is for me to know God…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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