From Father David Mendoza-Vela

A Visible God

We find it difficult to convey ideas to people unless we can actually show them something, demonstrate what we mean. God, who is invisible and truly beyond human understanding, apparently faces the same difficulty. People want to see, not just listen to an idea. So God gave us Jesus Christ, God made visible in the world.

During these past weeks we have seen how Jesus was revealed as an infant to the shepherds and the magi, and then began his adult “public life” at his baptism by John. Today’s Gospel reading tells us of his “first sign,” providing wine for the wedding guests at Cana.

Of course, even Jesus, God made visible, was not always easily understood in his own day, nor is he even now. So we have to ponder what we see: the poverty and simplicity of his birth, his humility and openness before John the Baptist, his kindness and compassion toward people in their ordinary problems, such as running short of wine at a wedding. Yet it is in coming to know Jesus that we come to know God.

Un Dios Visible

Nos resulta difícil transmitir ideas a la gente a menos que le mostremos algo, que le ilustremos lo que queremos decir. Dios, que es invisible y verdaderamente más allá del entendimiento humano, aparentemente tiene la misma dificultad. La gente quiere ver, no solamente quiere escuchar una idea. Por eso Dios nos dio a Jesucristo, Dios hecho visible en el mundo.

En las semanas recientes hemos visto cómo al nacer Jesús es mostrado a los pastores y a los Reyes Magos, y luego empezó su “vida pública” en su bautismo con Juan. El Evangelio de hoy nos habla de su “primer signo,” que es proveer vino para los invitados a la boda en Caná.

Por supuesto, hasta a Jesús, que es Dios hecho visible, no siempre se le entendía en su tiempo y ni siquiera ahora. Por lo tanto, tenemos que considerar lo que vemos: la pobreza y simplicidad de su nacimiento, su humildad y franqueza ante Juan Bautista, su amabilidad y compasión hacia las personas en sus problemas ordinarios, como la falta de vino en una boda. Pero al conocer a Jesús conocemos a Dios.

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