Tuesday in the Octave of Easter

Whom are you looking for?”

Jesus asks Mary whom she was looking for, even as he stood before her.

What we seek or need is sometimes right in front of us too.

Whether it is something as mundane as a set of car keys we seem to have lost only to have our spouse remind us they are right there on the counter where we are standing or something much more awesome like God who is always beside us.

We too sometimes seek but something stops us from seeing. It’s as if we have a blindness to that we seek. Sometimes it’s a blindness that has as its source something external to us…like the hand towel that was on top of the keys in the kitchen or the magazine strategically arranged to hide our wallet.

But sometimes out blindness is from within. We have our own image of what the truth is, we have our own idea of what our path, our journey, even what God must look like and act like…so much so that the truth of Jesus Christ is not visible to us. We may also be standing right in front of Christ in our lives and not see him.

Have we fashioned an image of God that does not mirror the image Jesus Christ told us?

Is our image of God one of love, forgiveness and self giving?

Or is our image of God one of a servant to us?

We call, we demand, he provides no matter what and when he fails to act we no longer find him anywhere in our world…..are we looking for an idol we created instead of the one true God, creator of all?

It is important for us to remember we were made in the image of God, not the other way around. God was not made in our image or our idea of an image. That is making false idols.

God is God…and we are not. We are his created. He loves us with a Father’s love and wants only the best for us. He is always with us, even when we don’t feel him near.

We must let go of our image of God and ask God to reveal himself and his truth. He will come into our lives for his love for us is unending and forever. He waits for us to turn to him with love and openness. Not allowing worry or fear or things of this world to deter us.

Today is also the day we remember St Jonas and St Barachisius. These saints loved others so much that when they heard that King Sapor in the 4^th century were persecuting Christians, they were compelled to express their love by actually journeying to them to help them, even as they knew they too would risk death. They went and comforted others and were indeed tortured and condemned to death.

But their message of love for others and God above all else is also how we will find God in our lives, even when we do not feel him beside us yet. For it is in giving of ourselves to others in service for Christ that we will find God return that love to us many times over.

So today, if we find we do not see the one we seek in our life. If we too are experiencing emptiness and anxiety we should find ways to serve God, give the love he has for us to someone else. Our love and our peace and our joy will grow as we serve.

That is the truth of being a follower of Christ.