By Jacob Perikala csc –
Readings: 1 Jn 4: 11-18; Mk 6: 45-52
The first reading tells me that God abides in all people without any distinction. So, I am invited to love all people equally. The gospel reading tells me that the eyes of the disciples were covered with darkness which is the reason they did not recognize Jesus.
Though Jesus is almighty and everlasting God, he did not expose his greatness to us. Rather he comes to us in the form of simple people whom we did not expect to be Jesus. Everyone is a child of God, if so, do I see the likeness of God in my friend who is with me at this moment?
We have pre-conceived notions about people, and we cannot expect more from that person than what we think of him. This thinking limits us to see that person as a child of God. Today, we are invited to see our friends or whoever is before us as a child of God.
In doing so we are not only loving the creation of God but also bringing the values of the kingdom such as love, justice, and peace in this new year. As the eyes of disciples prevented them from seeing Jesus as the son of God, similarly, whatever we see will not be always true and what we do not see will not be always false. So let us then start to see the world with eyes of faith.