Gospel – John 14:1-12

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way.”
Thomas said to him,
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen 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?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.”

Reflection on the Gospel

Let us remember we are in the holy presence of God.

When my grandson was three, he had not quite acquired “walking legs,” especially on uneven terrain. On one occasion, as he struggled a bit, his little hand reached up to mine hoping for the grip that he received. Interestingly, he never once looked at me. He instinctively trusted the support would be there. We are all children of God who, like my grandson, have to negotiate rough terrain every day: perhaps illness, unemployment, the loss of a loved one etc. The list many times seems endlessly anguishing, so daunting that we need a hand to take ours. Jesus is that hand. We, like my grandson, need to trust without looking up just by having faith, which of course sometimes is easier said than done. Thomas and Philip’s doubts about Jesus’ assurances are humanly predictable, and Jesus knows that. They want more direction and so do we. “Show us the way to the Father,” they ask. Jesus, “The way, the truth, and the life,” always provides the guiding hand of love and compassion: “I will come back and take you to myself, so that where I am, you also may be.” All Jesus requires is love and faith as the means, the same love and faith that animated my grandson to extend his little hand without looking up.

Mr. Raymond Nighan
St. John’s College High School – Washington, DC

Saint John Baptist de La Salle – Pray for us.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts – Forever.