Happiness is to Know the Savior 7th Sunday Easter A
Acts 1:12-14; Psalm 27; 1 Peter 4:13-16; John 17:1-11a
The Gospel passage for today comes from Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. In the prayer, Jesus prays for himself, for the Apostles, and for the whole world. Jesus prays for himself by asking his Heavenly Father to glorify the Son so that Jesus may glorify the Father. Jesus prays that his Apostles are “consecrated in truth” and that they are protected “from the evil one.” Finally, Jesus prays that the entire world may believe that the Heavenly Father has sent Jesus into the world as its savior.
The reason Jesus prayed for his Apostles and the entire world is that “eternal life” might be given to them. In explaining how the eternal life that Jesus is referring to is related to the present, earthly life, the founder of my community, Fr. Menard, stated:
Eternal life is here and now. Therefore, begin immediately to establish relationships among yourselves that can last forever! Begin your eternal life today! Begin right now to be what you want to be forever![i]
There is a tendency to think that eternal life, heavenly life, is a supernatural reality that only comes after this earthly, time-bound life. This is, though, a mistaken view of eternal life, for Jesus, by taking on flesh, brought eternal life into this imperfect world. To the extent we participate in Jesus’s life, we are participating in eternal life now, during this time-bound world. Fr. Menard continues:
We must not wait to find the Lord in another life, for he is with us always, and our present life is given to us so that we may accustom ourselves to his presence and action. “Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3). Those who have never found joy in this presence, knowledge, and intimacy during the present life will be indifferent to it in the world to come.[ii]
That eternal life, that our true happiness, is found only in Jesus is well captured, poetically in a hymn titled, “Happiness is to know the Savior”:
Happiness Is To Know The Savior Living A Life Within His Favor Having A Change In My Behavior Happiness Is The Lord! Happiness Is A New Creation Jesus And Me In Close Relation Having A Part In His Salvation Happiness Is The Lord! Real Joy Is Mine No Matter If Teardrops Start, I’ve Found The Secret, It’s Jesus In My Heart! Happiness Is To Be Forgiven Living The Life That’s Worth The Living Taking A Trip That Leads To Heaven Happiness Is The Lord, Happiness Is The Lord, Happiness Is The Lord![iii]
May God Bless You All – Fr Peter
[i] Menard, Our Death and Resurrection in Christ-1977, 4.
[ii] Menard, Christology 03 – Our Death and Resurrection in Christ, 3-4. “Our experience of life gives us the means and the power to confront death. We share this life with all those, living or dead, who live the life of Christ. In an obscure but infallible way we are united to all of them in a “communion of saints”. And we have means of drawing ever closer to those we love, and that is to intensify within ourselves the life of love that unites us to one another.” Menard, Christology 03 – Our Death and Resurrection in Christ, 5.
[iii] “Happiness is the Lord,” divinehymns.org, https://divinehymns.org/lyrics/happiness-is-the-lord-song-lyrics/#google_vignette.
Catholic Evangelization 