“DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU” (John 2:5)

⏰Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter (13 May 2017 – Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima)

????Acts 13:44-52; Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4 (R.v.3cd); John 14:7-14

Today is a very important day in the life of the Church. Today is exactly the centenary anniversary of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the 3 shepherd kids at Fatima. To mark this celebration, the Pope shall canonise two of those kids – Jacinta and Francisco today.

The message of our Lady to the kids had been summarised into three – repentance, prayer and penance. She preached the conversion of the world to avert the wrath of her divine Son. Hence, the organisers of the centenary anniversary chose as the theme for the celebration, John 2:5, “Do whatever he tells you.”

The primary role of Mary in the Church is to get all the children of the Church to do what Jesus wants. The Gospel of John has that as its primary project. Believing in Jesus is more important than our comfort since that is what guarantees eternal life for us (cf. John 20:31).

You can then see that, in John’s Gospel, most of the works that Jesus did among the people are called SIGNS and not MIRACLES. They are signs that should point out the divinity of Jesus to us (see John 14:11).

Considering the verb that Jesus used here (John 14:7), ‘TO KNOW’, goes beyond having a mere idea of something or someone. It means ‘to ENCOUNTER’. To encounter someone demands a personal touch. You cannot touch someone you are not close to.

Remember that sin can keep us away from being close to Jesus. Yet, you cannot have an encounter with Jesus if you are not close to him. And we NEED Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) to KNOW the Father.

The sin of jealousy made the Jews to distance themselves from that encounter with Jesus when Paul and Barnabas came to them with the word of eternal life. Their opposition however caused the message to spread to the gentiles. We are the losers when we fail to have that encounter with Jesus.

Is your faith built upon a personal touch with Jesus?

May we respond to the call of God daily and faithfully as Mary did and profess our total dependence on Christ so that he may take us safely with him back to the Father. Amen.

Have a faithful and grace-filled weekend. Peace be with you.