5th Sunday of EasterYear A - 10/5/2020 - Gospel: Jn 14: 1-12
Trouble free
Anything we can touch and feel and taste, we say exists. The abstract world requires the work of a mind to determine whether a thing exists or not. Both the empirical and logical approaches are unreliable when dealing with the question of faith in Jesus. The former deals with things perceived through our senses. The latter deals with images from a conversation helping the mind to decode the message. Faith in Jesus needs a different approach. It is the language of the heart. It is not voice, nor form, nor thought that leads a person to come to love God, but a loving heart. It plays a crucial role in a relationship. We love the empirical world; simply because we are part of that world. From it, we enjoy life, relax and feel at home. The spiritual world requires us to see with the eyes of faith. Our mind tries hard to understand Jesus' teachings, and often enough we come up with unsatisfying answers, because faith is invisible and mysterious. Jesus' apostles struggled hard to understand his teaching; their struggle is ours also. Like them, we would like to see God to satisfy our minds for clarity. Thomas asked Jesus to show him the way to the Father, and Philip asked to see the Father. Fortunately, we gain more insight from their asking.
First, Jesus assured the apostles that they will see God when the time comes, but not yet. 'To have seen me is to have seen the Father ... I am in the Father and the Father is in me' (14,9 ). God the Father is invisible to our eyes. Jesus is both God and man. Human beings are capable of seeing the man Jesus, the humanity of Jesus, but we are incapable of seeing Jesus as God, the divinity of Jesus. We are not made for it. The time will come for us to see God face to face. The apostles needed to have faith in Jesus, and to be free from doubt. In their time lived in the world, and were subject to the world, but when the time came, they no longer lived in the world, but in God's house. The saying 'there are many rooms in my Father's house' 14,2 indicates, that believers will live in God's house and they will meet the Father. Jesus gave them another assurance by promising that 'I am now going to prepare a place for you... I shall take you with me, so that where I am you may be too'. (14.3) Jesus calls them to trust him, and not be afraid, because his going away is good for them; He is not abandoning them, but going to prepare a place for them, and he will return to take them with him.
Second, Jesus' answer to Thomas helps us to understand, that God's way is beyond human comprehension. We are able to follow the way of world alone, but we are incapable of walking to God's house alone. We need Jesus to show us the way, to be our companion on the journey. 'I shall return to take you with me'. Believers are unable to go on our way to the Father alone. We need Jesus to lead, to guide. Jesus alone is all we need. With him on our side we need no one else. We will see God face to face when the time come and that is the assurance of faith. Believe and be trouble free.
First, Jesus assured the apostles that they will see God when the time comes, but not yet. 'To have seen me is to have seen the Father ... I am in the Father and the Father is in me' (14,9 ). God the Father is invisible to our eyes. Jesus is both God and man. Human beings are capable of seeing the man Jesus, the humanity of Jesus, but we are incapable of seeing Jesus as God, the divinity of Jesus. We are not made for it. The time will come for us to see God face to face. The apostles needed to have faith in Jesus, and to be free from doubt. In their time lived in the world, and were subject to the world, but when the time came, they no longer lived in the world, but in God's house. The saying 'there are many rooms in my Father's house' 14,2 indicates, that believers will live in God's house and they will meet the Father. Jesus gave them another assurance by promising that 'I am now going to prepare a place for you... I shall take you with me, so that where I am you may be too'. (14.3) Jesus calls them to trust him, and not be afraid, because his going away is good for them; He is not abandoning them, but going to prepare a place for them, and he will return to take them with him.
Second, Jesus' answer to Thomas helps us to understand, that God's way is beyond human comprehension. We are able to follow the way of world alone, but we are incapable of walking to God's house alone. We need Jesus to show us the way, to be our companion on the journey. 'I shall return to take you with me'. Believers are unable to go on our way to the Father alone. We need Jesus to lead, to guide. Jesus alone is all we need. With him on our side we need no one else. We will see God face to face when the time come and that is the assurance of faith. Believe and be trouble free.
Written by Fr Vũđình Tường
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
