John 17,1-11 – St. Peter Celestine
“This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” In these words from the Gospel of John we find one of the most beautiful definitions of eternal life. For us Christians, in fact, eternal life is not simply an endless place or time. It’s a relationship.
Eternal life is knowing God through Jesus Christ. AND in the Bible the verb “to know” does not just mean knowing something about someone, but entering into profound communion with them. We also experience it in our human loves. When we truly love someone, we feel like we are touching something infinite.
Sometimes we even say: “It feels like I’m in heaven.” It is the sign that authentic love always opens a glimpse into eternity. If a creature can inspire this within us, how much more should it happen in the encounter with God? Jesus is the concrete way through which God reaches our lives. Not an abstract idea, not a religious theory, but a living presence.
For this reason, finding Christ means finding eternal life already within this existence. Christianity is not a vague religiosity or a set of moral principles. It is a specific relationship with a specific person. Our faith has a name, a face, a story: Jesus Christ. And it is precisely this relationship that changes the way of living, of suffering, of loving, of hoping. Today’s Gospel therefore invites us to ask ourselves whether our faith is really an encounter or just a religious habit. Because eternal life begins the moment Christ stops being a conversation and becomes someone to know, love and follow.
