A Father Present By Absence
by Fr. David M. Knight
March 25, 2024
Monday of Holy Week (Week VI of Lent)
Lectionary No. 257
Isaiah 42:1-7; Psalm 27; John 12:1-11
"Here is my servant whom I uphold…" Isaiah 42:1
Through God the Son made weak in Jesus, God the Father showed his power.
Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and… the earth… who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk on it…
The Father is affirming Jesus, and all who, as his weak body on earth, live and speak by the power of the Spirit.
“Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one… I, the Lord, have called you… grasped you by the hand, formed you, and set you… as a light for the nations… to open the eyes of… those who live in darkness.”
The more Jesus “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave…” (Philippians 2:7), the more the Father filled him with divine power and glory. The more Jesus felt separated from the Father, the more the Father proclaimed his closeness to him.
This is what the Father, our Father, does for us. We should not fear to “empty ourselves,” taking on the form of Jesus in his human weakness. The more we do, the more the Father will fill us with his presence, his power, his paternity.
Jesus made this clear: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).
ACTION: Recognize weakness as strength, darkness as light.
PRAYER: “Lord, abide in me as I abide in you” (see John 15:4).
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
