1 May, Saturday – Seeking the Father through Jesus

May 1 – Feast of St. Joseph the Worker

St. Joseph (d. 1st century) was a descendant of the House of David. He was a layman, a builder by trade; traditionally a carpenter, but may have been a stone worker. He was the earthly spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the foster and adoptive father of Jesus Christ. He was a visionary who was visited by angels. He was noted for his willingness to immediately get up and do what God had told him to do. He died of natural causes, prior to the Passion of Christ.

• Patron Saint Index

Acts 13:44-52
Jn 14:7-14

“To have seen me is to have seen the Father…”

I grew up apart from my parents, who divorced when I was about 5. Over the years, I often wondered especially about my mother, whom I did not know, as she had gone on to live a separate, new life.

In my teens, I somehow found out that she was living in a particular housing estate in Singapore and one day, I set about going there to walk around, hoping that I could at least catch a glimpse of her. I never did see her that day, despite walking around aimlessly throughout the whole estate. I felt particularly downcast, and alone that day.

One can sense a similar insecurity (and fear) that the apostles were feeling in today’s gospel. Jesus had been talking about leaving and the apostles were eager to know where exactly he was going. When I was walking through the estate, I did so without knowing exactly where she was and felt anxious. Unlike the situation I was in, however, Jesus assures us that He and God the Father are in each other. While He does not say where He is exactly, Jesus assures us that whatever we ask for in His name, He would do.

The traditional, Old Testament, understanding of God the Father was that He was a somewhat distant God. He was to be worshipped, and feared. Yet, Jesus, Son of God, teaches us that God the Father is OUR Father. By Jesus’ example, he shows us an intimacy with God that had not been normally seen. We are also privy to this intimacy by virtue of our relationship with Jesus. What blessed assurance we have!

All we need to do is to seek Jesus and we would find our Father God!

(Today’s OXYGEN by Paul Wee)

Prayer: Help us Father, to always have a deep desire to seek Your son Jesus, for when we find Him we will always find You. We ask that You will always send Your Spirit to be with us and to guide us in this wonderful journey.

Thanksgiving: Thank you Father, for sending us Your son Jesus and for revealing Yourself through Him. Thank you for filling us with Your love through the Holy Spirit. We thank you also for sending Jesus to repair and build our broken links back to You!