How Can We Distinguish Day from Night? Let Jesus Show Us the Way!
One day the chief Rabbi asked his 10th grade students, “How can you tell that night has ended, and day is dawning?” One student suggested, “When you can see clearly that an animal in the distance is a lion and not a dog.” “No,” said the Rabbi.
Another said, “When you can tell that a tree bears lemons and not peaches?” “No,” said the Rabbi, adding, “It is when you look on another’s face and see only your sister or brother. Until you can do this, no matter what time of day it is, you are always in night.”
The Rabbi’s question is great for every baptized person to consider everyday while traveling on their life’s journey. If we only see those walking with us as contenders, who challenge our entry into God’s home, it will always be night. Only when we hear the brightness of Jesus’ words, “that all may be one” will we bring the light and see Christ’s brightness pointing to him.
Even though we know God created everyone equally, and has abundant room for everyone in his home, we, at times, remain caught in blinding darkness. But when we see everyone through the prism of Jesus, we see not what divides, but rather what unites!
Jesus, our Redeemer, and Messiah, sees everyone in the image and likeness of God his Father. When he does, faith clearly removes differences. An example that comes to mind is when Jesus met a gentile woman, a Syrophoenician, who passionately wanted Jesus to cast the demon from her daughter.
At first, Jesus refused saying, “Let the chosen children first be filled: for it is not right to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs” (Mark 7). However, with remarkable insight and persistence, she responded with faith and humility, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs” (Mark. 7:28).
Overwhelmed with compassion, Jesus said, “For these words alone, I say go your way; for the demon has left your daughter” (Mark 29). This shows us Jesus’ conversion, as he saw her in the light and shed her darkness.
When we find out a person is not the person we think he or she is, are we not growing? This is the Holy Spirit, who is urging us to move forward and become more like the person God created each of us to become. This is what Thomas Merton calls the true self which makes us most fulfilled!
See Jesus’ conversion made him exclaim: “O woman, great is your faith” (Mark 15:28). Jesus wanted everyone hearing that her faith surpasses all else and cured her daughter.
Jesus validates the woman’s claim. Seeing Jesus, through faith, is what our Creator wants us all to realize. We are all God’s masterpieces. If we fail see this, we are living in a cloud of darkness.
We are all the things that happen to us. A Christian who realizes this has great potential!
