Gospel (Jn 14:7-14)

Jesus said to his disciples: “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”

Commentary

In the verse just before today’s Gospel passage, our Lord had told his disciples that he is the Way to the Father: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” This can also be put in positive terms: “Everyone can come to the Father through me.” Jesus is the Way to reach God, the only one that leads to the Father. Saint Josemaría always strove in his own life of piety to follow this itinerary. He also advised all those who asked him for guidance in their spiritual life to do likewise, to seek in everything and for everything the solid foundation of our divine filiation. Not only at certain moments in our life, for example, when setbacks and difficulties arise, but also in our ordinary life each day.

Jesus also reveals to us in today’s Gospel passage that to know Him is to know the Father. “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” Christ’s whole life reveals the Father to us and shows us God's great love for us, his desire that we truly be his children. Saint Josemaría wrote: “God is waiting for us, like the father in the parable, with open arms, even though we don’t deserve it. It doesn’t matter how great our debt is. Just like the prodigal son, all we have to do is open our heart, to be homesick for our Father's house, to wonder at and rejoice in the gift which God makes us of being able to call ourselves his children, of really being his children, even though our response to him has been so poor” (Christ Is Passing By, 64).

And since we are children of God, He is eager to help us. Jesus invites us to ask God for what we need through his name. He wants us to ask for what will further our salvation. “Whatever you ask in my name” means what is truly good for us. When God grants us what we ask for, it is something beneficial for our salvation.

Let us ask the Virgin Mary to help us draw close to her Divine Son in his Most Holy Humanity, so that He will give us his own heart to love with.