Only Jesus Really Knows Us

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25).

Do I really believe this? Do I really know what it means to trust in Him?

Jesus claims that He is the reason why I exist, that I was created so that I might be His brother, the brother of God the Son, the Word made flesh. In union with Him, I become a child of the Father in the Spirit.

This is why I exist; this is the foundation of my identity and destiny as a created person. God made me because He wanted to love me and to give me the power to love Him. I was created so that I might be raised up to share in the life of the Trinity. I was created by Eternal Love, so as to rejoice forever in Eternal Love.

And this is true for absolutely every human being without exception. It is at the very core of the humanity we all share. Every person is, by the mystery of God's mercy, on a path of life that leads ultimately to an encounter with the gift of God's love - and this means an encounter with Jesus, even though so many know nothing about Him right now. 

This is why our lives and words witness to Him, Jesus, always, even as we respect people of other religions, engage in dialogue with them, and learn many great and precious things from their stories of seeking truth and longing for goodness and beauty, from the genuine wisdom embodied in their cultures and traditions, and from the mysterious ways God has drawn them and worked in their lives. 

As we accompany others, collaborate with them, live in friendship with them, and witness to them, we are servants of the grace of God at work in them and in us.

Jesus wants to share His burning love with others, through us. Jesus wants everyone to meet Him and to discover that He is the only answer to the search for meaning and the yearning for love that God has fashioned in the depths of every human heart. 

Only Jesus really knows us; only He can answer for each one of us that unique, unfathomable question, “Who am I?”