Who is this Jesus?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues to reveal that He is the Son of God, the “I Am,” who, before Abraham was, He existed.  Imagine being one of the Pharisees listening to Jesus.  “Who is this man who claims to be God,”  I might be asking myself.  As I gaze upon the host at every Mass, I ask myself, “Who is this God who stoops to earth below and changes bread and wine into His body and blood? Who is this God who, every day in the Eucharist, becomes my Food, my Transformation, my Cleansing into the purity of God? Who is this God who became sin for me on the Cross to crucify sin in me so that I become a new person in Christ Jesus.

“I AM the I AM,”  Jesus says to me. I am your life in God. I AM the I AM who created you, watched you take shape in your mother’s womb as I was molding you into the person you are at your very core. I formed you and I transform you every day.  I AM the I AM who knows you through and through, who loves you unconditionally and completely, when you are awake and asleep, when you come to me and when you walk away from me, when you are aware of me and grateful and when you are deaf, blind, and ungrateful. I AM the I AM who pastures you, gives you rest, heals you,  makes you whole and fruitful. I AM the I Am who conquers sin in you and plants the seeds of holiness and goodness within you and around you and empowers that goodness to create new life that springs up into eternal life. I am your God and there is no other!