The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home

May 25, 2025 – Sixth Sunday of Easter, John 14:23-29

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A few years back, an imaginative English cartoonist created a figure known to many as “Waldo.” (He was also known as “Wally” in some renditions.)  Waldo was first introduced in illustrated children’s books in the 1980s and later made it into a television program and finally into one of today’s most enjoyed pastimes, video games. Waldo wore a red striped shirt which should have made him stand out when he was made part of a scene. But that’s not how he was depicted. His creator would fill the scene with countless complex elements that may have looked like Waldo, or were interesting in their own right, but weren’t Waldo. That’s because Waldo was carefully hidden in a complex array of foregrounds and backgrounds. But the question was always put to the observer: Where’s Waldo?

The appeal to those on the hunt for Waldo was the creativity involved in hiding him. One might assume that given his funny face and outlandish outfit that he would be immediately found. But that didn’t happen. Once found, however, searchers would berate themselves for taking so long to find Waldo.

One of the leading scientific research projects of today is the search for what’s called dark matter and dark energy.  Most scientists have good reasons for believing that most of creation itself is made of up these two entities. But for now, they remain elusive and “unseen.”

This leads us to today’s gospel that recalls the followers of Jesus wondering about God’s presence with them. Jesus had departed. He told them that God’s Spirit would come to them. So, the manner of God’s presence would change. But does this imply God’s absence? It does not.

In fact, God has always been present to creation. God’s presence encompasses the entire universe. But God is even more unseen and imperceivable than Waldo. God cannot be seen with our eyes because we can only directly perceive what is part of the universe. At the beginning of the Creed, we claim to believe that we believe in God, Creator of heaven and earth. By this we mean all that is created. But to be created is also to be sustained in existence. A creator is needed. Both at the very beginning and in its continuance. This is sometimes called “continuing creation.” God is knowable through God’s gift of our searching intelligence and God’s gift of faith. In that sense, we can come to know that we are never alone. Never apart from God’s loving presence.

David M. Thomas, PhD