Meeting Jesus— Is Life-changing!
Want a Transformation in Life? Saint Andrew and Saint John are here to Show you How!
It is a truth that the love of God meets you where you are; no matter what the situation, the love of God meets you in your mess, in your disasters, crisis, chaos, in all your troubles and sad circumstances. In the Gospel, we find people meeting Jesus and see how greatly their lives are transformed! I would like to reflect on two great saints who became apostles of Jesus and how Jesus and Mary transformed their lives.
Saint Andrew with Jesus
A few months ago, while reading some of the passages in the Gospel of John where Andrew appears, I reflected on the question of how knowing Jesus can change our lives.
Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. On hearing his master proclaim the gospel “Behold, the Lamb of God” and pointing to Jesus as He walked by, both Andrew and John got up and followed Him. When Jesus turned and saw them following, He asked, “What are you looking for?”They did not know how to respond because they were not sure themselves, and so they asked another question, “Rabbi, where are You staying?” Jesus invited them to come and see. The Gospel states that they said “Yes” to the invitation and stayed with Jesus that day. Even the time of day is noted in the Gospel of John, signifying that this time spent with Jesus was indeed one of transformation for both Andrew and John. They were not perfect at this point, but something changed in them.
The key statement that spoke to my heart was when Andrew first found his own brother Simon and told him the good news. “We have found the Messiah,” he said.What also came to mind were the words of Saint Paul to the jailor in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus andyou and your household will be saved.” The promise of God is that believing and surrendering my life daily under the lordship of Jesus Christ will save my life and that of my family from eternal death. Did Andrew know this promise or was God leading him?
Life-Saving Action
Andrew’s first reaction was to find his own family, his own brother, proclaim the good news to him, then bring him to Jesus. The first lesson Andrew teaches us is that in our individual role as husband or wife, father or mother, son or daughter, brother or sister or even as a close friend, our primary duty in knowing Jesus is to present Him to our inner circle, our own family or in some cases, very close friends and to bring them to Jesus.
He teaches us that in today’s modern society, the salvation of the family or your inner circle is still God’s number-one priority. First, we need to embrace the discipline of spending time with Jesus as Andrew did, not for His sake but for ours, so we are transformed on the inside. We have to intentionally grow in this discipline. We may not become perfect as long as we live, but at the least we are a work in progress on the journey to perfection. We become a tragedy to our families and society if we simply remain as raw material.
Second, Andrew teaches us to work for the salvation of our families or close friends. The reality is that family or very close friendships can be the place where you are loved the most but also where you are let down the most because of brokenness. Whether I am loved or let down in my own family or close friendship setting, I am not excused from working for the salvation of myself. I cannot ignore the salvation of my family or close friendships.
Another place where Andrew is mentioned in the Gospel of John is at the multiplication of the loaves. Jesus Himself knew what He was going to do, but to test His disciples, He asked how to buy enough food for the crowd to eat. It was Andrew who called attention or brought before Jesus the boy with five barley loaves and two fish. Even as he did this, he most likely questioned how a tiny portion could satisfy the entire crowd.
An Act of Trust
Oftentimes, we can look at the messiness of our own lives and become dejected with the reality that we can never be an instrument of God to lead our families or close friends to Him. Rather than becoming a blessing to our families or close friends, we often become a snare. It is in these circumstances where Divine Mercy, who is Jesus, meets the broken me and says, “I desire to transform the broken, imperfect, raw material of your life into a Eucharist, so that you become a blessing for your own family, close friends and others. Will you trust Me enough to surrender your broken self to me?” Andrew knew the impossibility in the proposal of Jesus. We know the intensity of our own misery and wonder if anything good could come out of us.
In his heart, Andrew questions the wisdom in the plan of Jesus. We often do the same. Despite Andrew’s struggle to find the logic in the proposal of Jesus, he trusted that his master could do something wonderful with the little he had to offer. He cannot explain how, but he trusted because he knew what he felt deep inside his heart when he spent that day with Jesus. Andrew teaches us to make an act of trusting surrender in each Eucharistic celebration and daily prayer time.
Give into the hands of Jesus the messiness of your life. Do not be content with allowing the raw material of our lives to remain as such, but surrender it to Jesus. Jesus takes the brokenness of our lives and raises it up not to humiliate us in front of others, but to ask the blessing of the heavenly Father upon the most imperfect gift we surrender.
After the blessing—which is the infilling of the Holy Spirit—we are distributed to our families and close friends. They are filled with joy because as I am distributed, it is no longer I they see, but Jesus, who dwells in me. Even after they surrender their lives to Christ, I am not exhausted of grace, but the spring of living waters continues to flow out from me. In fact, there is a huge abundance of grace. Thank you, dear Jesus, for the lessons you teach us through the life of Saint Andrew.
Saint John with Mother Mary
One of the hidden yet powerful lessons of the Gospels is that the time spent with Mother Mary is indeed the time spent training in virtue. This lesson is unfolded for us when we examine the transformation that took place in the beloved disciple John at the empty tomb.
Upon the report from Mary of Magdalene, both Peter and John ran to the tomb, but John reached it first. The Bible says John did not go in, but rather waited for Simon Peter to get there and go in first. Then John followed. I used to wonder why the Bible highlighted this specific act because it seemed so insignificant. My doubts were cleared by a priest who explained the reason behind this during his homily. At the foot of the cross after Jesus had entrusted his mother into the care of John, from that hour the disciple took Mary into his home.
John got to spend the entire day (Holy Saturday) with Mother Mary. During that time, John must have laid his head on her lap, because John had a habit of reclining at Jesus’ side when he was with Him. As Mother Mary stroked his hair, she must have reminded John that Jesus used to do the same thing. At that moment, however, there was a gap in virtue between the two. Why was John lacking in virtue?
Finding the Pitfalls
In the Gospel of Luke, it states that Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem, and they were going to pass through a Samaritan village, but the villagers did not welcome Him. Then James and John asked Jesus if they should call down fire from heaven to consume the people. Jesus turns and rebukes them. This incident shows that John was hot-tempered. He was easily prone to anger and revenge. While lying on Mary’s lap, John was reminded of his lack of virtue and surrendered this area of his heart into the hands of Mary.
In the Gospel of Mathew, the mother of John and James approach Jesus asking Him to command that in His kingdom, her sons would sit on His right and left. This showed that John desired a place of honor and lacked the virtue of humility. He probably also harbored a grudge in his heart toward Peter who was appointed as head of the Church when Jesus said, “You are rock and upon this rock I will build My church.”
From the Lap of Mary
While spending Holy Saturday with Mother Mary, John was reminded of his desire to be served rather than to serve. It was a powerful retreat for John to be in the presence of Mother Mary, one that totally transformed him. How do we know he was transformed?
When he writes the Gospel of John, he does not name himself but refers to himself as the other disciple or the one whom Jesus loved, showing the virtue of humility. Similarly, when Peter and John arrived at the empty tomb, although John arrived first, he did not go in but rather waited for Peter to do so first. This act showed that he accepted the authority of Peter and no longer desired the seat of honor.
In spending time with Mother Mary, John embraced the desire to serve rather than be served. I believe Saint John Paul II stated once that the aspect of Mary that gets neglected the most is meditation on her virtues. In other words, as a Catholic I am not spending enough time with Mary training in virtue.
Growing in Virtue
Dear Mother Mary, help us to spend time with you as John did, that we also may become more like Jesus, so that in us virtue will shine and vice disappear. I feel it is no accident that the Bible does not mention the name Mother Mary or Mary mother of Jesus after Acts 1. While there are references to Mary in Revelation, the term Mary the Mother of Jesus is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible after Acts 1. It is as if Mary chose to remain in the upper room, in the room of prayer and silence, waiting for us to enter and train with her in virtue.
Training in virtue is a lifelong process, and to do it effectively involves a lot of dying to self, renewing our thought process and attitudes, and evaluating our convictions and ideas in the presence of one who is full of grace. By remaining in the room of silence, Mary reminds us that this training does not have to be done alone—she is there to guide us so our transformation and progress is according to the will of God and so we will bear abundant fruit and glorify God.
Dear Jesus and Mary, we thank you for the lessons given to us through Saint Andrew and Saint John. Truly we accept our weaknesses and failures; we surrender ourselves into your hands. Help us to spend time with you so we may grow more and more in virtues and be transformed in Spirit. Amen.
Jenson Joseph has been part of Shalom Media as a speaker at the Shalom Conferences. He lives with his family in Michigan, USA. Watch his series at shalomworld.org/show/discipleship
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A familiar picture, a routine job, but that day, something different caught her eye. On the corner of my bathroom vanity is an old photocopy of a drawing (original source long forgotten) in a clear, plastic frame. Years ago, one of my now adult sons had carefully framed it and set it on his dresser. It sat there until he grew up. When I re-homed, I transferred it to the corner of my bathroom vanity. On Saturdays, when I clean the bathrooms, I always lift the little frame and wipe the surfaces beneath it. Occasionally, I’ll swipe my cloth over the smooth sides of the frame to wash away any settled dust and invisible germs. But, like so many other familiar things, I rarely take notice of the image inside the old childish frame. One particular day, though, this picture caught me by surprise. I eagerly focused on the eyes of the two figures in the image—a child and Jesus. The expression on the little child’s face was one of loving adoration. The innocence of child-like wonder and unrestrained admiration resonated in his soft, penciled eyes. The child’s tender, upward gaze seemed not to notice the horror of the crown of thorns atop Christ’s head or the Cross crushing His right shoulder. In contrast, Jesus’s eyes peered down from beneath heavy lids and shadowed creases. The artist had managed to skilfully veil the depth of pain behind those eyes. Drawing Parallels I recalled a memory from my early years as a mother. I was big with baby number three. In the last days of pregnancy, I was attempting to soothe my aching body with a warm bath. I bounded my two young sons. They were full of energy and chatter as they moved around the tub and peppered me with questions. My privacy and physical discomfort were of no consequence to their boyish minds. I remembered the tears that rolled down my face as I tried, in vain, to get my sons to understand that I was hurting and in need of some space. But, they were simply little children who saw me as their ever-present mama, the one who kissed away boo-boos and always stood at the ready to hear their stories and meet their needs. They lacked understanding of the physical sacrifices that child-bearing demands. And I was too familiar to be seen by them as someone other than their strong, steadfast mother. I considered the parallels. Like my little boys, the pictured child saw Our Lord through his individual, human lens of experiences. He saw a loving Teacher, a faithful Friend, and a steadfast Guide. Christ obscured the intensity of His Passion—out of mercy and met the child’s gaze with tenderness and compassion. The Lord knew that the child was not ready to see the full measure of the suffering that his salvation had cost. Lost in the Darkness Our familiarity with things, people, and situations can make us blind to reality. We most often see through the clouded tunnel of old experiences and expectations. With so many stimuli competing for our attention, it is reasonable that we filter out the world around us. But, like the child in the picture and my own little ones, we tend to see what we want to see and ignore that which does not correspond with our perspectives. I believe that Jesus wants to heal our blindness. Like the blind man in the Bible who, on being touched by Jesus, said: “I see men, but they look like trees, walking” (Mark 8:22-26), most of us are not ready to see the ordinary with divine eyes immediately. Our eyes are still too accustomed to the darkness of sin, too attached to our self-reliance, too complacent in our worship, and too proud of our human endeavors. The Full Picture The price paid for our salvation on Calvary was not an easy price. It was sacrificial. Yet, like the child in the picture on my bathroom vanity, we focus only on Jesus’s tenderness and mercy. And because He is merciful, Jesus doesn’t rush; He allows us to come to a gradual maturity of faith. However, it is good to ask ourselves every once in a while if we sincerely render efforts towards spiritual maturity. Christ did not give His life so that we might remain in the fantasy world of continued blessings. He gave His life so that we might have eternal life, and we need to open our eyes to see that He bought it at the price of His blood. As we journey through Lent and especially Holy Week, we need to allow Christ to open our eyes little by little, surrender ourselves to His will, allow Him to remove our idols one by one, and strip away that which has become familiar in our lives so that we may begin to see the old blessings of worship, family, and holiness with new eyes of deep, abiding faith.
I remember a time in my ministry when I had felt a fellow minister distancing himself from me for no apparent reason. It seemed like he was struggling, but he wouldn’t share it with me. One Lenten day, burdened by this thought, I stood in my office and cried out to the Lord in my heart: “Jesus, I feel so left out of this person’s life.” Immediately, I heard Jesus respond with these sad words: “I know how you feel. It happens to Me every day.” Wow! I felt my own heart pierced, and tears flooded my eyes. I knew these words were a treasure. I continued for months to unpack that grace. Since my Baptism in the Holy Spirit twenty years ago, I had considered myself to have a deep personal relationship with Jesus. But this Word from my precious Savior and Lord opened a whole new insight into Jesus’ Heart. “Yes, Jesus, so many people forget You, don’t they? And me too—how often am I going about my tasks, forgetting to bring my problems and thoughts to You? All the while, You wait for me to turn back to You, who looks on me with such love.” In my prayer, I kept processing those words. “I know better now how You feel when someone rejects You, accuses or blames You, or does not talk to You for days or even years.” I would more consciously take my own sorrows to Jesus and tell Him: “Jesus, my Beloved, You feel this same sadness that I am feeling. I offer my little hurt to console You for so many people, including myself, who fail to console You.” I saw in a new way my favorite image, Jesus with His Sacred Heart’s rays of love flowing out, lamenting to Saint Margaret Mary: “Look at My Heart that loves people so much—but receives so little love in return.” Truly, Jesus gives me little trials daily so I can have a tiny taste of what He endured for us. I will always remember that moment of agony that brought me closer to the amazing, tender, long-suffering love of our dear Lord Jesus.
Father Primo Mazzolari was one of the great public figures of mid-twentieth century Italy. His homily on Holy Thursday in 1958, a year before his death, which he titled “Our Brother Judas” is well-known. At the heart of the homily are the words of Jesus upon Judas’ arrival at the Garden of Gethsemane: “Friend, do what you have come for” (Matthew 26:50). “Friend” was what Jesus addressed him as at their last encounter. Even after his betrayal, Jesus expressed love, mercy, and even friendship towards this betrayer. This was an invitation to examine the inner life of Judas. We don’t know if even that tender word penetrated his heart. But we know one thing: Judas must have remembered that powerful and lovely word ‘friend’ at the moment when he hung himself on the tree. ‘O Judas, my friend…!’ Still, we are sure when Jesus prayed from the Cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” he certainly did not exclude Judas from those he prayed for. It is true that Jesus had predicted about Judas, “none of them was lost except the son of destruction” (John 17: 12). Another terrifying statement about Judas: “It would be better for that man if he had never been born” (Mark 14:21). But, as in many other instances, he had spoken from the perspective of time and not of eternity. The eternal destiny of a human being is an inviolable secret kept by God. “We may betray Christ’s friendship, but Christ will never betray us, his friends; even when we don’t deserve it, even when we turn against him. Even when we deny him, in his eyes and in his heart, we are always friends of the Lord…. Poor Judas. Our poor brother. The greatest sin is not to sell Christ; it is to despair” (Primo Mazzolari). We cannot pass a hasty judgment on him. The betrayal of Judas continues throughout history. Judas sold the Head, while his imitators continue to sell the Body, the members of the Body of Christ. Judas’ betrayal continues through the lives of each of us when we fail to confess our sins.
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