May 14^th 2017. Fifth Sunday of Easter

GOSPEL: John 14:1-12

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: John 14:1-12

Jesus said to his disciples

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. 
Trust in God still, and trust in me.
There are many rooms in my Father’s house; 
if there were not, I should have told you. 
I am going now to prepare a place for you,
and after I have gone and prepared you a place, 
I shall return to take you with me; 
so that where I am you may be too.
You know the way to the place where I am going.’

Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’
 Jesus said: ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to the Father except through me.
If you know me, you know my Father too. 
From this moment you know him and have seen him.’

Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied’. ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him ‘and you still do not know me? ‘

‘To have seen me is to have seen the, Father, 
so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father 
and the Father is in me? 
The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself: 
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work.
You must believe me when I say that 
I am in the Father and the Father is in me; 
believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason.

I tell you most solemnly, 
whoever believes in me 
will perform the same works as I do myself, 
he will perform even greater works, 
because I am going to the Father.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 Kieran’s Summary . . . The readings this Sunday speak of our unique roles within the body of the Church. The Church is not a regiment of soldiers but an organic body in which we are all called to exercise a unique role. When Jesus saves us, he is not just dragging us bureaucratically over the line into heaven. He has gone ahead of us to prepare a special place for us in his body, the Church. We have a journey to undertake, a goal to achieve. Thomas complains to Jesus that we cannot follow Jesus if we do not know the final destination where he intends to lead us to. Jesus replies, “I am the way, the truth and the life”. Following Jesus does not involve big projects, strategies, or abstract knowledge of where we are going. It involves a personal relationship with Christ, who is life. If we unite ourselves to Jesus, then we are heading surely towards the Father, the author of all things. Thomas says, “Show us the Father and then we will be happy”. Thomas, like many of us, wants an instant arrival at the final destination, but we cannot arrive at the Father without going through Jesus, seeking him, getting to know him, following him, living in relationship with him. At the end of the Gospel Jesus makes a remarkable statement. He says that he is going to the Father and that we will do even greater works than he (Jesus) has done. The Church, through its saints, martyrs and ordinary people, has extended the works of Christ to the ends of the earth. If we live in Christ, then we live the life of the Trinity and our works will begin to manifest all the creativity and power of the Father.

The Church is an organism in which we are called by the Lord to exercise a unique role

In the first reading from Acts we hear how the apostles chose seven deacons to take care of the distribution of the goods of the early Church. The Church is a living organism, not a regiment of identical soldiers. Everyone has a unique role or position within the kingdom of heaven. Some are entrusted with the ministry of the word, which gives sense to everything and lies at the heart of the Church; others are called to serve and to use their hands in practical ways. The different ministries support and confirm each other. The apostles preach well and thus inspire the deacons to serve well. Because the deacons serve well, the word preached by the apostles is received more powerfully.

In saving us, Jesus calls us to fulfil a unique mission

One of the themes this Sunday is that of our position in the kingdom. Jesus says, “There are many rooms in my Father’s house; if there were not, I should have told you.
I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am you may be too.” What does the Lord prepare for us? Salvation of a bureaucratic sort? Does he save us en masse and herd us over the line into heaven? No, he gives us a position, an identity within the organism of the body of the Church. Through the salvation won for us by Christ, we are offered a special place in this body. Salvation is not of a numerical, impersonalised sort. Each one of us is given a special ministry, a unique work to accomplish within the Church.

Where are we going? How do we arrive at eternal life? Thomas wants a detailed itinerary from Jesus, but all we need to do is enter into relationship with the Lord. Uniting ourselves to him is the way to life

How do we arrive at our proper place within this new life? Thomas says, “Lord we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Thomas is looking for the itinerary of the journey, but things are not like that with Jesus! The Lord is not a tour operator who gives us a detailed programme for the journey. Jesus wants to establish a personal relationship with us. He is the way. He is that which we must seek to understand. He is the road. Our goal is not some distant place but the objective of being with him and getting to know him better. This is the road that leads to life! We must seek, him, get to know him, and receive life from him. Christianity is not about accomplishing projects, but about having a relationship with Christ. Our goal might be heaven, but it is always Christ who is the way, the truth and the life. We arrive at life not by studying abstract things, but by following him, being with him.

If we remain with Jesus then we will go surely towards the Father, the author of life. In every fibre of his being, in every act, Jesus is Son of the Father. That is his identity. If we remain with him then we too become children of the Father and oriented towards him.

All of these elements – way, truth and life – are related to knowledge of the Father. Let us recall that Jesus - in every fibre of his being, in every aspect of his person, in every condition that he assumes, in every act that he performs, when he teaches, when he is crucified, when he is risen – he is always fundamentally Son of the Father. Everything that he does reveals the Father. Philip, whose name is of Greek origin, asks Jesus to show them the Father. He wants to arrive at the destination instantly, without having to do the intermediary things of following Jesus and seeking to comprehend him. Philip is saying, “Let’s get straight to the nucleus of what we are about here!” Jesus replies, “Have you not understood that everything I do reveals the Father? If you want to know the Father then you need to get to know me”. The only way to arrive at the Father is to go through Jesus.

If we truly live in Jesus then we will accomplish incredible works because Jesus has gone to the Father

The point is that the means of arriving at our true position in life does not involve strategies or projects on our part. It does not involve merely right comprehension nor efficient organisation. Rather it requires a relationship, a right relationship with Jesus. In everything we do, we must enter into relation with him. United to Christ we live as children of God. Jesus, in everything he does, is heading towards the Father. The Father is in Christ and Christ is in the Father. If we remain with him, then we become inserted into the life of the Trinity. At the end of this Gospel passage, Jesus says, "I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, he will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.” Jesus is in the Father. Therefore whoever remains with Jesus begins to demonstrate all the creativity of God. The works of the Church, of extraordinary saints and martyrs who suffered in an illuminating manner, are even “greater” than those of Jesus’ earthly life in the sense that they are more extended. Jesus lived a brief life that was confined to Galilee and Judea, but his body has now gone into all the world, to the ends of the earth. These “greater works” of the Church derive from living in him. Living in him, in fact, is the greatest work we can do.