Fifth Sunday of Easter
Jn 14:1 - 12

       The apostle Thomas was very frustrated by the answers Jesus gave him. It is a frustration that could be shared by many hearers of today's gospel. Thomas' request was simple. He wanted straight-forward and clear-cut guidelines on how best to come to God. If the rules were clear and definite, he felt that he could keep them and earn his salvation.

       But Jesus did not give him the much-sought-after clarity. Instead, he told him (and us, in turn) that the secret is to gradually get to know Jesus, to live like him and so to grow in a deepening relationship with him. This is the only way to the Father.

       Nothing has changed. Some of us at times, and more of us at all times, look for security in human religious regulations, thinking that once these are fulfilled, salvation is guaranteed. Not so, says Jesus. Following him means always being willing to go the extra mile, always to be increasingly generous in prayer and good works, always being willing to let God surprise us with his gifted call to expanding love.

       It is in Jesus that we see the fullness of the father's revealed love, the truth about God. He is truly the way, the truth and the life. Listen with the doubting Thomas to the master's message.

 

(Commentary by Tom Clancy. Taken from "Preaching the Word", Columba)