Week 541–The Word–Fr Tony Percy– Who Are We

The Word–Fr Tony Percy– Who Are We? (Fr Tony says we have this magnificent question put to John, "Who are you?" in today’s Gospel. And so that's a question that's come right down to us, from Abraham and Sarah, right to this moment. Saint Francis of Assisi used to stay awake at night for many hours, asking God two questions: "God, who are you and God, who am I?" That's really the question we have here today. The people are putting the question to John the Baptist saying, "Who are you?" And he says, "Well, I'm not Elijiah, I'm not the Christ, I'm a witness to the light." Now, that question, "Who are you?" is also answered in the second reading today from Thessalonians. There, the human being is described as body, soul, and spirit. Now that's an answer for the difficulties we're having with personal identity here in the modern world. We are body, soul, and spirit, and the connector between the body and the soul and the spirit, of course, is the five senses. Unlike the angels who are pure spirits, we are a composite being of body, soul, and spirit. And as I say, our senses connect all of that together. We are very mysterious as human beings. We should be deeply grateful for who we are, body, soul and spirit)