Look for greater things By Beth DeCristofaro
The angel spoke to me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. (Revelations 21:9-10)
But Nathanael said to (Phillip), “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” … Nathanael answered (Jesus), “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:46, 49-51)
Piety
I pray just for today, for these twenty-four hours,
for the ability to cooperate with others according to the way Jesus taught us
to live. “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
May these words that he taught us become more than words.
Please free my thinking and feelings and the thinking and feelings of others, from
all forms of self-will, self-centeredness, dishonesty, and deception.
Along with my brothers and sisters, I need this freedom to make my choices today according to your desires. Send your Spirit to inspire me in time of doubt and indecision so that, together, we can walk along your path. Amen.[i]
Study
Ok, Ok, I’m married to a Jersey Boy and I tell the occasional New Jersey jokes. But to hear it in Scripture? Are we surprised at the length of the history of put-downs based on a place? Today dirty digs are almost the norm. Republicans, Democrats, “liberal or conservative” Catholics, East-Coast elites, rural dwellers, urban Blacks, and poor Whites are among the many, many groups targeted. Jesus sees right through the stereotype to the person who spoke the slur, choosing to see the innate God-image within him. “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.”
Jesus did not stop there. He invited Nathanael to envision beyond his deep, devout, faith expectations. And Jesus entrusted his Word to this bigoted man who misunderstood what the Messiah would be. Thanks to Nathanael and others who were also profoundly imperfect, Jesus’ message spread even down through the ages to you and me. And today Jesus says to us, “You will see greater things than this.”
The angel in Revelation displayed the holy city. As Catholic Christians, we are tasked to continue building it here on earth. Integral to that task is allowing Christ to abide within us, gracing us to shine with his indwelling and to seek it in all others humbly. My Jersey jibes, our leap to pigeon-holing each other as Nathanael did, divide rather than builds. Christ within us can stand with the suffering, breach walls, speak loving truth.
Action
Can Jesus also say of me, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him?” Can Jesus trust me to spread his work of building his church here on earth? Do I choose to be obstruction or illumination of Jesus the Christ’s mercy to shine today?
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