In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to his disciples after they have just learned that he will go to Jerusalem and die. They are upset, yet Jesus’ response: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me,” does not console them. After hearing that Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life,” Philip says, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” What’s going on here? Why can’t Jesus satisfy his anxious followers? Why don’t they understand who Jesus is in relationship to the Father?
I think the answer has to do with the difficulty in believing that the “way” to the Father is not a road, but Jesus Himself. One of my favorite Scripture scholars, Father John Foley, S.J. made that clear to me. Like these disciples in the Gospel passage, we also tend toward the practical: “How do I get there? What’s the shortest, safest, quickest route?” But Jesus offers the spiritual: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me…The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.” It’s Jesus saying to us “Don’t be afraid, stay with me; rest in me.” The journey to God is best lived through a life with Jesus who knows what it’s like to be us (because he lived like us in all things but sin), who can bring life to our weary souls (because he is God the creator and life-giver), and who can help us do the work that God wants us to do (because he knows our human limitations and can help us imagine us doing greater things). And because it is Jesus, the “way” is a relationship that is nurtured in prayer. By talking with Jesus from the heart, we make our own way to the Father.
What will we be like after spending time in honest conversation with Jesus? Hopefully we will have fallen more deeply in love with Jesus, we will be on our way, and therefore more committed to Gospel living. It’s not so much about “getting there;” it’s about “being with” – Jesus.
Welcome to the Saint Aloysius! Our parish was founded in 1896 to serve the Catholic families that were settling in the greater New Canaan area.