20.04.2008 - 5th Sunday of Easter
- year A
First Reading; Acts 6,1-7 Psalm 33 2nd Reading; I Peter 2,4-9
Gospel Reading; John 14,1-12
"I believe in …… Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, born of the Father,
God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, generated, not created, of
the same substance as the Father!" This is a long list which clearly and
unequivocally affirms Jesus' divinity. That he was a man was said later. Here
we pause to declare our faith in his divinity. Of course to claim that Jesus
the man, is God, we must remember that we know only one way of being God; love.
Love is a gift of oneself! God gives of himself, of his life and what comes
forth as a gift is pure, divine, perfect love! Hence: God of God!, true God
of true God! The Scriptures also give a definition of God as light and in him
there is no darkness (1John), and, therefore, the light that emanates from him
is pure light! The first council of Nicea in 325 denied Aryanism, a simple doctrine
that claimed that Jesus was only man. This doctrine would not recognise the
eternal value of his sacrifice, of his death and of his resurrection. If Jesus
were not God, his teachings would not be so important: if he were only a man,
his word would not be the word of God and for us it would not be so important
to know him. Neither would it be possible to cultivate intimacy with him as
he desired; "remain in me, I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever
remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit", or "I in them and
you in me". Jesus' divinity is not what the pagans imagined, a sort of
super-power able to do whatever it wishes, egoistically! His divinity is not
a sort of competition with that of the Father, but it is being the "son"
of God, being obedient to the Father and as loving as he is. His divinity is
service, giving of himself, offering his life. For this reason the love of God
shines in him to the point that we can say that in him, God is glorified. In
his life we can see how great is God the Father's mercy and his loyalty!
The apostles' questions give Jesus the opportunity to reveal some wonderful
aspects of his presence amidst us. The doubting apostle, Thomas, asks Jesus
what he intends to do and Philip asks him if he can see the Father! The Lord
replies with the sentence : "I am the truth, the way and the life"!
Then he explains patiently. He is the way: it is with him and in him that we
can come to the Father! He knows the Father and can lead us the sometimes difficult
ways of pure love, of living faith, of total abandon so that we can feel the
paternal and maternal embrace of God! Whoever wants to get to God without walking
with Jesus will never get to a God who is Father, who gives life and cares for
us with love so that we will grow! No other religions describe a God who loves
us and receives us like a father and forgives us like the father in the parable
of the prodigious son.
Jesus is the truth. He is the revelation of what is hidden to our eyes: none
of us have seen God and none of us have seen the creation as he sees it! In
Jesus we see true love, we see the most beautiful aspects of the paternity of
the Father! So many things are hidden from our eyes! We cannot see the deepest
meaning or the consequences of what we do and what we think. We think we can
judge the people around us, but who can see into their hearts? Who can see their
past or their future? Who knows how heavily the sins of their ancestors weigh
upon their hearts, or even my own sins? And who sees the love hidden in what
happens? Jesus is the truth: he is the love of the Father for the people who
love us and for the people who hate us. The most luminous truth seen from his
cross. In him we see half our path, we see what we must become so that our lives
become fulfilled. Whoever does not see God and men through the light of Jesus
will be cheated and will sink into lies!
Jesus is the life: this I cannot prove, I can only advise anyone to try! I know
what life is when I hold fast to Jesus, when I love him and when I do everything
for him! Life enters in me and I am happy to be in this world, everything is
beautiful and full of meaning!
St Peter says; "so come to him, to the living stone, which was rejected
by men but chosen by God and of great worth to him. You also, as living stones,
must be built up into a spiritual temple". Our lives are precious when
they are united with Jesus! Even the early Christians, though with difficulty,
found great joy in spreading the gospel and the knowledge of Jesus as the truth,
the way and the life! They spread this news with brotherly love, a love which
was truly committed: seven men were chosen to help the poorest amongst them!
This gave the apostles the time to pray and spread the Word: this is the work
which it is so important to do! Jesus must shine out for all as "the truth,
the way and the life"!