Tuesday of the
Seventh Week of Easter
(Acts 20:17-27; John 17:1-11a)
In Spanish there are different words for our two senses
of knowing in English: saber and conocer. Saber means to have knowledge of something. Ella sabe quién es el presidente (she knows who is president). Conocer
is a more personal kind of knowledge. Él conoce Chicago porque se crió allá (he
knows Chicago because he grew up there).
Of course, conocer implies a
relationship with another. In today’s
gospel Jesus says that eternal life consists in knowing personally (conociendo) God the Father and the
Son. If this does not excite us, perhaps
we are unware of having had the experience.
Winston Churchill once said of his friend Franklin
Roosevelt, “Meeting him was like opening a bottle of champagne, and knowing him
was like drinking it.” More should be
said of knowing God the Father and the Son.
If Jesus’ parable of the “Prodigal Son” has currency, God is a little
like the father of a boy’s best friend.
After a childhood squabble with the friend, his father came looking for the
boy to take him to their school’s football game as he had always done. Knowing Jesus is something like the comradery
among soldiers fighting together in the trenches. They would give their lives primarily for one
another’s sake.
We know God the Father and God the Son in at least two
ways. First, we read the Scripture which
is their story. It tells mostly of their
love for us. Second, we pray to
them. They will not fail to help us in
our need.
