First Reading - Acts 13:44-52
Gospel - John 14:7-14
The first reading presents an account of the turning point of the missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas. The passage juxtaposes two different characters; On one side, we see Jews who rejected the message of salvation proclaimed by Paul and Barnabas, on the other side, we find the Non-Jews receive the message of Paul and Barnabas. In the same way, Jews are filled with jealousy and a vicious approach to destroy Paul and Barnabas; whereas, the Non-Jews are filled with gladness for the hope of receiving salvation by believing in Jesus. As a whole, one can observe in this episode that the missionary work of Paul and Barnabas to Jews displays the priority or privilege that Jews enjoy because the gift of salvation springs from them but the acceptance of the message of salvation by the Non-Jews shows the gift is open to all those who welcome the message of salvation with an open mind and heart, putting aside disbelief and hardness of heart.
The gospel passage gives an invitation to open the eyes of faith to see the work of the Father in Jesus or, in other words, to see the oneness that the Father and the Son share. This pericope is important to notice that Jesus reveals his identity as something that is issuing from the Father ("To see me is to see the Father" and "To know me is to know the Father"). Jesus also points out that one can observe this intimate relationship between the Father and the Son by two ways: faith and works that he performs.
Dear friends, our life is a journey and it requires faith because nothing is in our control, neither the time of our present nor our future, but certainly, we choose to decide to live as we want in a given time without really controlling the time. However, it's our faith that helps us see every moment of our lives as a blessing and a gift and encourages us to live it with hope and love. Jesus invites us, through the gospel, to be able to see with eyes of faith what God does in our lives in order to see what God offers to us every day. In the first reading, we encounter the Jews who failed to see with the eyes of faith the message of salvation proclaimed by Paul and Barnabas, whereas the Non-Jews could see with the eyes of faith and rejoiced for the gift. We are invited to open our eyes of faith by throwing away our disbelief and hardness of heart to see God's work of salvation effected in our lives. Let's perceive the events, the persons, and the situations etc. with the eyes of faith to see God's work in our lives. It'll help us see God's doing in our lives and embolden our faith even more.
The gospel passage of today invites us to become sons and daughters of the Father like Jesus who made the will of the Father his own. It means we need to strive to do what God expects from us. How do we do it? It's by opening the eyes of faith to see the guiding hand of God in our lives. It certainly requires our earnest prayer to remain faithful to God in doing what He wills from us.
Let's pray that God may assist us in our journey of faith.
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