Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going; how can we know the way?”
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.
If you know me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know him, and you have seen him.”
Philip asked him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.”
Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know me,
Philip? Whoever sees me sees 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? All that I say to you, I do not say of myself.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his own work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do. Truly, I say to you,
the one who believes in me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these,
for I am going to the Father.
LECTIO DIVINA:
Read: As the Christian community continued to grow, it was inevitable that some problems of organization and administration would arise.
And so the apostles, recognizing the need that the Body of Christ was not just a spiritual communion,
but a community of men and women who had everyday needs, appointed seven “servants” or “deacons”
to assist in the smooth running of the community. And the gospel reading begins with an amazing exhortation from Jesus:
“Do not be troubled.” By appointing the seven men, the early Church was in fact taking into serious account these words of Jesus.
Reflect: The Church isn’t just a spiritual communion of believers desiring to get to heaven.
It is also a community of men and women who seek to live out the Good News amidst the ordinary circumstances of everyday life.
Wanting to get to heaven should never mean that we abandon the concerns and needs of this earth.
Jesus did not die for a vague and amorphous idea; no, he gave up his life for concrete men and women who had worries, problems,
needs, challenges, anxieties, fears, hopes and dreams. We must never think that the spiritual life is an escape from the cares of this world.
Jesus never taught that. Rather what he reminded his disciples, again and again, is that for those who put their trust in him and the Father,
no worry or care in this life can ever separate them from him and the one who sent him.
Pray: Lord, remind me that the spiritual life and prayer are not meant to give me an escape from life,
but are meant to immerse me in life even more – but with the full knowledge and confidence that I do so with you by my side,
leading, guiding and caring for me.
Act: Has there been something (relationships, work, family, etc.) that I may have been neglecting or I have taken for granted?
I need to set aside some time to attend to them; my faithfulness to the Lord demands nothing less.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2020
