Liturgical day: Sunday 5th (A) of Easter
Gospel text (Jn 14,1-12): Jesus said to his disciples, «Do not be troubled; trust in God and trust in me. In my Father's house there are many rooms. Otherwise I would not have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. After I have gone and prepared a place for you, I shall come again and take you to me, so that where I am, you also may be. Yet you know the way where I am going».
Thomas said to him, «Lord, we don't know where you are going; how can we know the way?». Jesus said, «I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me. If you know me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know him and you have seen him».
Philip asked him, «Lord, show us the Father and that is enough». Jesus said to him, «What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever sees me sees the Father; how can you say: ‘Show us the Father?’. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?». All that I say to you, I do not say of myself. The Father who dwells in me is doing his own work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do. Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father».
«I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me»
Fr. Walter Hugo PERELLÓ
(Rafaela, Argentina)
Today, the scene we consider in the Gospel explains the existing intimacy between Jesus Christ and the Father; but not only that; it invites us to discover the relationship between Jesus Christ and his disciples. «After I have gone and prepared a place for you, I shall come again and take you to me, so that where I am, you also may be» (Jn 14:3): these words of Jesus, not only place his disciples in a perspective of future, but also exhort them to keep on faithfully following the course they had begun. To share with the Lord the glorious life, they also have to partake the same way that takes Jesus Christ towards the dwellings of his Father.
«Lord, we don't know where you are going; how can we know the way?» (Jn 14:5). Jesus answers: «I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me. If you know me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know him and you have seen him» (Jn 14:6-7). Jesus does not certainly propose a simple way, but he points out the path to follow. In fact, He becomes himself the Way to the Father; through his resurrection, He becomes the Walker who is to guide us; with the gift of the Holy Spirit, He encourages and fortifies us so that we do not lose heart in our pilgrimage: «Do not be troubled; trust in God and trust in me» (Jn 14:1).
In the invitation Jesus makes to us, to go to the Father through Him, with Him and in Him, his deepest mission and most intimate desires are revealed: «He, who is the Son of God who became the Son of Man, wants to make us his brothers and, thus, He is in Himself presenting all humanity to its God and true Father, by taking with him all of his own kin» (St. Gregory of Nyssa).
A Way to walk, a Truth to proclaim, a Life to share and enjoy: Jesus Christ.