May 10^th 2020. The Fifth Sunday of Easter

GOSPEL: John 14, 1-6

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

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

GOSPEL: John 14, 1-6

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.”

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

Kieran’s summary . . . Jesus tells us in the Gospel not to be troubled at heart. However, this is not easy for us! Each one of us has an innate restlessness. We fear the uncertainties of life. We don’t know where we are going. Jesus tells us that the answer to our instability is to make our dwelling with him. But how do we do that? Is this dwelling just a place where we will go at the end of our lives? No, Jesus is not only talking about our ultimate destination. He is talking about a state of existence that we can already enter right now. In fact, he is already preparing us to enter into our dwelling place with the Father. Even the pandemic is being used by him as a stimulus to abandon ourselves into his hands and start to live in his presence. Everything in life is Christ’s way of taking us into our dwelling place with the Father! If I ask: “How can I find the way to the ultimate goal of my life? Which path must I follow?” The answer is my relationship with the Father. Jesus knows the Father, so if we walk with Jesus, keeping him always in our hearts and minds, then we will be sure to arrive at our wonderful destination.

Each of us has an innate restlessness. We fear the uncertainties of life. We don’t know where we are going. Jesus tells us that the answer to our instability is to make our home with him. But how do we do that? Is that just a place where we will go at the end of our lives?

Jesus tells us: “Do not let your heart be troubled” - not easy! In the context of the current pandemic, it is worthwhile to consider well this invitation of Jesus. In our translation, the disturbance of the heart mentioned by Jesus sounds like an inner attitude - in fact it is the heart we are speaking of, after all - but in the Greek original, the verb refers more to a jolt than to an attitude. It implies a collapse of support and the consequent upheaval of the structure. What could produce such chaos? Jesus responds by saying: "There are many dwellings in my Father's house." The collapse in support that would threaten the heart would therefore lead to the need for a new home, for a safe shelter. In fact, this is the primordial trauma of the human being, his first cry, experienced in birth. One leaves the womb and immediately faces, without understanding it, the question of destination: where am I going? where are you taking me? what will happen to me? This is not just a problem for infants, but for all of life. Even today I never really know where I'm going to end up: what will become of me? So many things create fear in me.

But Jesus is not only talking about our ultimate destination. He is talking about a state of existence that we can enter right now. He tells us that he is coming back for us while we still live this life and he will take us there. He is already doing that! He is already preparing us to enter into our dwelling place with the Father. Even the pandemic is being used by him as a stimulus to abandon ourselves into his hands and start to live in his abode. Everything in life is Christ’s way of taking us into our dwelling place with the Father.

Jesus resolves all of this by speaking of the Father, because it is only in His house that there is the answer to our innate restlessness, as the Psalm says: "Only in God is my soul at rest" (Ps 62,2). But this beautiful concept can also sound abstract and distant. It is very important to realize that the “dwelling” that Jesus speaks of is not only a future goal for us. That would already be wonderful, but Jesus adds: "When I have gone and I have prepared a place for you, I will come again and take you with me". This is not a journey to be made by ourselves, as a task to be achieved with our poor resources. It is the work of Jesus! He will return and take us with him. They are two ways of understanding our life: as a long test of strength after which we finally arrive at salvation, or allowing ourselves to be taken day by day and brought to the Father. Everything that happens to us in life is the Lord’s way of taking us to His home. Everything. God can use the most disparate of things, even a pandemic.

How can I find the way to the ultimate goal of my life? Which path must I follow? The destination is my relationship with the Father. Jesus knows the Father, so if we walk with Jesus, keeping him always in our mind, then we will be sure to arrive at our wonderful destination

Then the Lord goes on to say that we already know the path to this wonderful house of many dwellings. Thomas, the one who must always check to see if something is genuine or not, asks the most logical of questions: “We don't have any idea where you are going; how can we know the way?” But Jesus has other ways to explain things: he doesn't give us a map, he doesn't give us a shortcut. The road that we must follow is the same one that he travels. In a certain sense, not even Calvary or the tomb is the place of passage, but even more fundamentally the relationship with the Father, regardless of everything else. Jesus is saying: “I know the way because I know the Father and you know the way to the Father because you know me”. As simple as that. It is not necessary to have memorized all the bends and junctions. When I know Christ, when I keep him in mind, then I know where to turn, where we stop, how to walk. The rule is to stay with Jesus, whatever it costs. Then I am guaranteed to arrive at my destination.