Gospel Reflection May 7 – Fr. Lynch
Sunday, May 7
Fifth Sunday of Easter
John 14: 1 – 12
Gospel:
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.”
Gospel Reflection:
It’s hard to believe that it is already the fifth Sunday of Easter. And as we celebrate this Sunday the Glory of Jesus’ resurrection and the conquering of sin and death for us, we take time to worship and praise God in the middle of a beautiful and busy spring. A time when we celebrate 1st Holy Communions, Confirmations, graduations…a time where we spend time together with family and friends, and in the middle of all these exciting things we take time to give Thanks to God.
The Gospel today is a powerful reminder of the reality of who Jesus is, what he came to do, and why He came to do it. Jesus’ words today are not just words of comfort to his disciples as He prepares to ascend into Heaven body and soul, rather they are words with eternal meaning and truth. Jesus makes known to us the fact that the spiritual life is not a theory, rather that it is to be lived in the present…as a gift from God.
When Jesus tells his disciples “Do Not let your hearts be troubled”, I tend to immediately go to the troubling aspects of life. Why is that? Our Lord just told us not to and yet…it’s like when Jesus heals the blind man and then tells him to go in peace and tell know one…and then immediately the man goes and tells everyone about how he had been healed. I would think if God just healed me of something in a miraculous way and then told me NOT to go tell anyone, that I would hope to be obedient and thankful and do what the Lord commands. Yet that is not the reality we always live in, and thanks be to God, He knows this and understands us in our brokenness and fallenness. The Lord does not chastise us, instead He invites us to a new way of thinking and living, a Christocentric life, that is Christ-centered, not self-centered. It requires faith, albeit only the size of a mustard seed, but it does require faith and action.
Thomas is a perfect example of one who falls short, does not have what is needed and the Lord intercedes in His life to give him exactly what he needs in order to continue Jesus’ mission as his follower.
We can take Jesus’ words today as eternal promises. That we once were doomed and now have not only been saved but set free. When we put Jesus Christ in the center of our lives, life doesn’t all of a sudden become easier, but it does change, not because we change but because when we truly encounter the Lord, His GRACE changes us and we get it. So let us get the message out, “NOT to let our hearts be troubled, because in my Father’s house there are many rooms”. Alleluia. St. Brigid of Kildare…pray for us!
-Father Lynch