Jesus told the disciples, I am the way, and the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6). For a long time, they did not understand. James and John, for instance, wanted Jesus to use His power over nature to zap lightning on the Samaritans who refused them a drink of water. Jesus must have just stared at them: a lightning bolt was not His way of sharing truth and light. The disciples had a lot to learn.

All of us have. Our faith teaches us, for instance, that Jesus Christ is the universal savior. Beautiful if a little general. But He also insisted, Learn from me, and He is talking every day thiings to do. (Matt 11:29.) Pope Francis has a lot to say about that. “In union with Jesus, we seek what he seeks and we love what he loves”( The Joy of the Gospel,  267.  What w did He seek?

Watch Him and learn. First, to do the Father’s will. Then, to help anyone who believed that He could help them and asked—sometimes, even without asking (for instance, the widow at Naim). Doing as He did, we learn to embrace Jesus’ whole life, his way of being with His friends and with crowds, too. We learn His way of acting, His integrity, His simple daily acts of generosity. Finally, we learn how to imitate His complete self-giving.

As we go along trying to  “know, love, and serve Hiim,” we might learn what Pope Francis has learned: how all of this “is precious and reveals the mystery of his divine life.” (The Joy of the Gospel, 265.)  

This is clearly not something we thought up ourselves.