What is Eternal Life?

I have to catch up with the reading of the gospel of John. We should be reading John 17:11-19 today. In the course of reflecting on these verses, a story returned to my mind.

Four years ago, Mr. Anthony Wong, the then RS Panel Chair, was going to retire. The school needed to hire an RS teacher to take up the RS lessons left by him. I was invited to take part in the interviews. There were 3 of us, Mr. Anthony Wong, the Principal and me. It is interesting to note that those interviews were just 'first interviews'. Yet, the Principal took great interest and indeed he was the chief interviewer. Mr. Wong and I sat on both sides. In those years, the economy of Hong Kong was yet to recover. There were literally hundreds of application letters for other subjects. But it was not the case for RS plus English. We interviewed several applicants. Each time, the Principal always asked this question in Chinese. "Suppose a student asks you what eternal life is, how would you answer?" He would role-play the student and persisted for a while.

After several interviews, I was curious and wanted to know the 'model answer' of the Principal. Off hand, he only gave me some very vague answers. Not satisfied, I searched for the answer myself in the Bible and I came up with the answer in the gospel of John and shared it with Mr. Wong. Then came the next stage of the issue. Who would take up the Panel Chair? With the La Salle experience behind, I declined the invitation from the Principal.

One day, the Principal called a meeting of all Catholic teachers and he wanted to apply group pressure on me to take up the responsibility. It was a good opportunity for all Catholic teachers to share experience but I would not bend. Somehow, I brought up the question the Principal posed in the interviews. The other teachers put forth their ideas and when it was the Principal's turn, he gave an answer, summarizing others' but adding no more of his own. I then went up to the staff room to get a copy of the Bible and handed it to Mr. Wong. But he was not able to locate the verse I shared earlier with him. I then gave the following answer.
And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent (John 17:3).

In the end, Mr. John Wong was generous enough to take care of the Panel and I gave him my total support.
To this day, I think I have done the right thing for Shung Tak. With the vice-principal at the helm, the religious atmosphere of the whole school has been greatly improved. Mr. John Wong is a wise and prudent man. Shung Tak owes him a lot, not just in religious matters. To name just one fact, fewer S5 students drop RS these days. Had I taken up the post, I would not have been able to restore such respectability to the subject. I am honoured to be his RS sidekick.
A search of RSV yields 44 verses of eternal life in the New Testament. 17 are found in the gospel of John, mostly about gaining eternal life. Only does the verse above define unambiguously what eternal life is: to know the only true God and to know Jesus Christ.

My sweet Jesus, I thank You for revealing to us what eternal life is. You died for our sins and with Your resurrection, Your death effectively wipes out our sins. Your resurrection guarantees our eternal life. May we know You better and deeper. May we abide in You forever and ever. Amen.