Glorify

Jesus said to the Jews: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” So the Jews said to him, “Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?”

Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word. Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”

So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area. (John 8:51-59)

The word “glorify” repeats in these passages from John.  At the very end of Mass the deacon says: “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.”  

Unlike Jesus who was bold enough to claim he was “I AM,” according to John, can we claim the same identity?  Can we claim that the divine presence in all of us enables to say with confidence: “I AM prepared to do the will of God and to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth."  In other words, are we prepared to truly glorify the Lord by our lives?  That is a challenge we all must take on due to our baptisms and our faith.  

We fast approach Holy Week.  Therefore, we should remind ourselves that when we keep his word, we will never taste death.

Deacon David Pierce