How many times throughout the Gospels do people make the claim that they know Jesus? Today's Gospel portion has the people of Capernaum, Jesus's second home, making the same claim. They are shocked at discovering something new about Jesus, something he had not revealed previously about himself, and they find it difficult to accept. They fall back on what they had previously known about him, the safety of old knowledge that protects them from accepting what is new.
But once we learn something new we cannot go back to the way things were previously. What becomes known cannot be unknown. We discover new things about people we claim to have known; we discover new things about ourselves as well. People are dynamic and evolving, not static and stationary. We never truly know another person or ourselves fully, let alone Jesus. We can always know more, and that is a great adventure in itself.
We can come to know Jesus more and more in so many ways: reflection on the daily Mass readings and participation in the Eucharist; meditation during adoration; encountering other people; performing the works of mercy to those whom Jesus helped in his life. Not only will we come to know Jesus better in these encounters, but also we will come to know ourselves and others better as well.
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