Today’s Gospel sounds like a farewell message Jesus addressed to his disciples. In John 13, while washing the feet of his disciples during the Jewish Passover feast, Jesus announced to them his future betrayal by one of them, his agony, his death, and his resurrection. Having probably noticed how sad and worried his disciples were, Jesus addressed to them this message of hope in today’s Gospel saying: “Do not let your heart be troubled. You have faith in God, have faith also in me….”
Faith in Jesus is a basic aspect of discipleship
Without faith it is impossible to know who Jesus really is. At this decisive moment, the disciples needed to understand and believe that Jesus is the Messiah whom the Father has sent into the world; that in Jesus, God made himself visible, close to humanity more than ever. The struggles of the disciples of Jesus in knowing who he really is helps us understand the importance of faith.
Faith as response to God’s invitation
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that “by his Revelation, “the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends, and moves among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company. The adequate response to this invitation is faith.”1 Some Christians would prefer to understand in order to believe, while others would seek to believe so as to understand”. In both cases, believing in Christ mobilizes all our being. The disciples experienced miracles, signs Jesus performed in words and actions, and yet they struggled to believe. And Jesus understood this quite well; that is why he was patient with them. Learning from the experiences of the disciples, we see that Faith goes beyond miracles.
Faith as dialogue with God
Jesus says to his disciples: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” Continuing further Jesus said, “I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.” Here again the disciples struggled to understand their Master. This is evidenced in the attitude of Thomas who spontaneously says: “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way? In the light of Thomas’s reaction, we learn the importance of dialogue with God. We should not be afraid to ask God questions. Thanks to Thomas’s question, Jesus made a solemn revelation about his identity: “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus the “I am” is calling mankind to follow him.
The Way, the Truth, the Life
In a world where many are in constant search for meaning to life, looking for direction, for all sorts of spiritual experiences, Jesus presents himself to us as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We need more than ever experiential knowledge of Jesus through the sacraments, in prayer, and in our relationship with others. Following Jesus, experiencing him as the way, truth and the life means integrating in our lives the ways that go from his birth in Nazareth to his death and Resurrection.
Revisiting the experiences of the disciples with Jesus helps us to be more down to earth with our faith, to be patient with ourselves and others in following Jesus, but above all to persevere in our discipleship. The Holy Spirit helps us today in believing so as to understand Jesus and love him more. As we celebrate today the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, we ask Mother Mary, spouse of the Holy Spirit, to understand for us and obtain for us the grace to believe, to Love and follow Jesus.
1 Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n°142.
