St. Zita spent her life from age 12 until her death at age 60 as a servant in the household of the Sagrati family. Zita had been born into a devout family, and when she was a child, she would respond with instant obedience when her mother would say either, "This is pleasing to God" or "That would displease God." As a servant, Zita was an excellent worker. Both the household and the Sagrati children were committed to her care. Zita believed that "A servant is not pious if she is not industrious; work-shy piety in people of our position is sham piety." Zita was also a great friend to the poor, giving away her food and contenting herself with scraps. For years she had to suffer hostility from the other domestics, but on several occasions her goodness was miraculously recognized. One morning, when she had inadvertently over-stayed in church praying until sunrise, she hurried home to find the bread dough already prepared for the oven. Zita's last years were spent in the esteem of the household and engaged in contemplation and charity. She was especially devoted to prisoners awaiting execution, and she spent hours praying for them. St. Zita died very peacefully while at prayer. Show us the Father, and that will be enough for us. (John 14:8)
No matter who you are or where you come from, one thing is true about you: you long to see and know your heavenly Father. It’s a deep craving—so deep, in fact, that some of us don’t even know it’s there. But that’s how God made us: with a built-in longing for him, so that we would all feel moved to try to find him.
For many people, though, God seems too otherworldly to get to know. His throne is in heaven, and we live on earth. His thoughts and ways are so high, and ours seem so earthbound. We perceive clues about him through scientific discoveries or through the beauty of art, but these are just observations—not relationship. Can we really know him who stretched out the universe?
The answer is yes. We can, and we already do know him because we know Jesus! As we proclaim every Sunday at Mass, Jesus is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. The disciples didn’t know that yet. That’s why Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father. Maybe they thought Jesus would give them some new insight or, even better, a brief glimpse of his glory. They didn’t realize that the Father was already revealing himself through Jesus. How happy they must have been when they finally realized God had been with them all the time through his only Son!
We do know the Father, because we know Jesus. And like with anyone else, we can grow to know him deeper still. Often this doesn’t mean that we find out something brand-new about our Father, although that could happen. He has a way of challenging our assumptions about things. Usually it means that he shows us something we already knew about him—like how much he loves us or how glorious he is—but he lets us experience it in a deeper way. What’s amazing is that however close to God we have grown over the years, there’s always more to learn. There’s always more to experience.
So may the prayer of Philip echo in our own hearts: Show me.
“Lord Jesus, show me the Father in a deeper way.”
Acts 13:44-52; Psalm 98:1-4