Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.
I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak.
And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Seeing is believing. The recurrent message following the Resurrection is that this is all backwards. Jesus tells us: We need to believe to see. If we don’t believe, then we can’t see the light; we remain in the darkness of death, without hope for eternal life. The world says, “No. Show me. Then I’ll see you and stand behind you.” We work to be seen so that the world can believe in us. The teacher in me says, “Prove to me that you know this.” If my students don’t first sense my belief and trust in them, they feel devalued, unseen, uninspired. God believes in me, sees me and loves me unconditionally, without me having to earn it. Do I look to God and not the world to find my value? How often do I question God’s will and lack patient trust when life doesn’t go according to my will?
—Mariette P. Baxendale, Ph.D., is the Science Department chair, member of the Ignatian Charism Committee and Active Proponent of Mission and Identity in the Classroom at De Smet Jesuit High School, St. Louis.
Dear Lord,
Please help me put aside the worldly idols of speed, efficiency and productivity which misguide me into thinking they measure worth. Let faith and love guide me to look to you and not the world to light the way to eternal reward. Give me the patience to slow down and welcome the quiet so that by believing, I may see you and be fully present to you in prayer and to those around me. Help me to understand that your work can be gradual and not readily evident, and that you will be revealed not only at the destination, but also during the pilgrimage. Jesus, I trust in you.
Amen.
—Mariette P. Baxendale
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