Fifth Sunday Of Easter, April 20, 2008

Acts 6: 1 - 7

1 Peter 2: 4 - 9

John 14: 1 - 12

Word of Explanation:

The Gospel of John develops a theology of mission. Jesus is the one sent into the world by the Father as his representative. He is the one who reveals the Father. He does not proffer his own words but the words of his Father. He does not perform his own works but does the works of his Father. He does not do his own will but the will of his Father. He is the Way to the Father. Jesus return to the Father, and the way that he opens to humankind, is accomplished on the Cross, the place of his elevation and glorification.

Meditation:

Jesus is the Way. He invites the disciples to not let themselves be troubled. Jesus desires to comfort and strengthen the disciples by revealing himself as their mediator, their passage to the Father. Jesus is the image of the Father and, at the same time, the revealer of our human vocation. Jesus claims that he is the Way. He does not say: "I will show you the way, but reveals that he is the way. He is the way because he is the truth and thus, the life.

As man, Jesus is the way that leads to the Truth and the Life of God. Whoever sees him, sees the Father; whoever hears him, hears the Father. Jesus going to the Father is not the abandon of his disciples. For he wants to associate them with his own destiny and leaves in order to prepare a place for them in the Fathers house. To choose Jesus as your way is to choose truth and life.

Jesus is the Truth. He reveals to his interlocutors that he is the one sent by the Father. He is the only begotten Son who reveals the true visage of the Father. The Father has entrusted all the believers to him so that not one is lost. Jesus is Gods gift to humanity: God so loved the wold that he gave his only begotten Son (John 3:16). The love of God for humankind shows the true identity of God. When we welcome such a revelation with faith, can we desire to take distance from God? The love of the Father, manifested in Jesus, does away with fear and invites us to love in return. He frees us from the slavery of fear or from servile obedience and offers us a filial relationship with God. Jesus invites those who believe in him to be faithful to his word and to become his disciples. This requirement brings also a promise: You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free, (John 8:32).

Jesus is the Life. Jesus is the one who possesses the fullness of life and he came so that men might have life and have it in abundance (John 10:10). Jesus is the truth because he manifests the true being of God and thus the authentic way to God. Knowing God establishes a stable and lasting communion. God is the living God existing from all time and his word remains eternally (cf. Is 40, 8). By bringing eternal life to believers Jesus Christ makes them participants in that which remains forever. He introduces them into a communion of life with the living God. The salvation promised by God and accomplished in Jesus Christ is indeed a life that will never end. This hope does not invite us to dream of a better future; it gives an eternal dimension already to our existence here below.

Lord, teach us to turn within, to that intimate place in ourselves where you meet us, keep us alive and work in us. You never cease acting in us as Creator and Father. You give us life in abundance and we thank you.

—Sr. Sophie Ramond, R.A.