The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
When I was a student at my all-boys Catholic high school, I had the opportunity to attend a father-son retreat. At one point, my dad and I were selected to compete in the father-son version of “The Newlywed Game,” the famous television game show made popular in the 1970s.
In the same manner as that show did with the couples, the host had all of the sons leave the room, and then he asked the dads a series of questions. The goal was for the dads to answer each question how the sons would answer them. Questions ranged from “What is your favorite TV show?” to “What would be your first purchase after winning the lottery?”
At one point, all of the dads had to answer for their sons: “What is your favorite animal?” I am positive my dad did not know my favorite animal. I am not even sure I knew my favorite animal. Maybe a penguin? But when the host gave my dad the microphone, he said with complete confidence, “Tiger.” The host then followed up the question with, “Why is the tiger his favorite animal?” My dad responded, “Because that’s what he’s going to answer.” The host was confused. Eventually, another student shouted from the audience, “Because of LSU!”
This student was exactly right. My dad attended Louisiana State University, and we had been watching various LSU Tigers athletic events my whole life. Before the contest started, my dad and I agreed to one rule to increase our chances of winning: If we can make the answer about LSU, we will do it.
In this Gospel, Jesus makes a promise to his apostles. But he also makes it to us: “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live.”
This promise changes the answer to every important question in our lives. The world might be confused by some of our answers, by some of our decisions. But our brothers and sisters in Christ see our reasoning. Because Christ is the key to every answer. Once we see Jesus Christ, once we know our Father through His incarnate Son, every one of our answers will be united to the Father. Our lives will always be united to the Father.
Fr. Christopher Meyer is a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. He is currently serving as the pastor at Sacred Heart in Pattison, TX. In addition to loving every moment of priestly ministry, he likes to hang out with friends, watch sports, buy books, and read books (in that order). His favorite book is Island of the World by Michael O’Brien, and he puts that in his bio, hoping some random person will read it.
