REFLECTIONS TODAY
At the Last Supper, Jesus comforts his disciples in view of his impending departure. It will involve his passion and death, but ultimately it will mean his ascension to the Father in heaven where he will prepare dwelling places (Greek monai) for his disciples. Jesus’ constant reference to the Father prompts Philip to ask, “Master, show us the Father” (v 8).
The request echoes the plea of Moses to God, “Please let me see your glory!” (Ex 33:18). This also articulates the human longing for a genuine spiritual experience. In creating man, God leaves a space in the human heart that remains empty, that only God can fill. To Moses’ pleading, God answers, “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live” (Ex 33:20). But Moses is allowed a glimpse of the divine glory: “You may see my back, but my face may not be seen.”
Jesus, however, is the icon of the Father. To see him is to see God in the human flesh. Jesus is the message, the definition of God. To know and to love him is to enter into the heart of God. As John’s prologue puts it, “No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him” (1:18).
Gospel • John 14:6-14
Jesus said to Thomas, “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. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”
Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.