you. After I have gone and prepared a place for you, I shall come again and take you to me,
so that where I am, you also may be. Yet you know the way where I am going.” 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.
READ: The Acts of the Apostles recounts the origins of what would become the
diaconate, a ministry committed to service. Peter reminds his readers that, in
Baptism, they have been consecrated to God in holiness. John’s Gospel begins
Jesus’ Last Supper discourse, his final talk with those he loved. Knowing that his
passion and death will shake their faith, he encourages them. Promising that he
will bring them to the Father.
REFLECT: Everyone wants a place to belong, a place where they are welcomed
and loved. That is the promise that Jesus makes to the Twelve – and us – in today’s
Gospel. He promises that he will prepare a place with the Father where we will
live with him forever.
Heaven is our true home. Our time on earth is brief compared to the eternal life
that Jesus has prepared for us. To find our ultimate home, we follow the way that
Jesus has mapped for us, a way that will lead us through death to life eternal. The
way is narrow and difficult, but the destination is Paradise.
PRAY: Lord, help me to follow you more closely, my way, my truth, and my life.
ACT: Perform an act of service for someone who feels lonely or forgotten.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2023