Knowing God

Gospel: John 8: 51-58

How does one come to know God? The common answer is that a person is given an education about God through Bible reading, catechism classes, and the like from childhood.  But all of this is learning information about God from other people.  It is not knowing God.  This method is like hearing from other about some person you have never met.  All of their information is interesting, but we do not know that person at all.  Only when we encounter that person first hand do we come to know that person.  It is the same with God.

How do we encounter God personally? The Gospel provides a number of different places where people met Jesus.  It may be during a meal at someone's house.  It could be through overcoming an illness or calamity that gripped us for a time from which we are now released.  It could happen by being fed in a deep hunger, or a chance encounter at a well. Or it could be in our helping another in their need.  Whatever the case may be, we must be open to encountering God in various moments in our lives.

Lent is a time for considering more deeply the different moments of our day and seeing where we may have encountered God in our life.  It is the time for coming to know God for ourselves, to come and see for ourselves the one who is teacher, healer, provider, counselor, the one whose tomb is empty.