Saturday May 13
In his last days, Jesus realizes that his disciples have doubts and misunderstandings. Like Philip, the other apostles are not able to see the divinity of Christ; they do not fully believe that he reflects the light of the Father and that his words and deeds are divine. Jesus expressed concisely: whoever sees me sees the Father. In fact, when the disciple lives in communion with the Son, he will be able to perform mighty deeds of the Father in the Son's name. In this consists the mission of the Church, the Body of Christ through the centuries.
Alternative
Towards the end of the reading we see the words, “Everything you ask in my name I will do.” “In my name” means “in my presence.” There are many things we could never ask for in the presence of Jesus; the words would die on our lips. Ultimately all our searching and seeking is a searching for God. Julian of Norwich, the 14th-century English mystic, wrote, “Seeking with faith, hope and love pleases our Lord and finding him pleases the soul, filling it full of joy. And so I learnt that as long as God allows us to struggle on this earth, seeking is as good as seeing. It is God’s will for us to go on seeking until we see him, for it is because of this that he will show himself to us in his special grace, when he so wills.”
“Seeking with faith, hope and love.” It is impressive to see faith used as an instrument of seeking, rather than as an object possessed (see April 17).
Alternative
Peter thinks Jesus should be doing something ‘nobler’ than washing their feet. Thomas complains that they don’t know where he is going – implying that they need a better view of the destination. Philip wants a vision: “Show us the Father, and that will be enough” (tomorrow’s reading). All are unsatisfied with what they actually have; they want something ‘higher’. Jesus points to what they already have: “Thomas...I am the way; Philip...whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” About the same time that John’s Gospel: was being written, Clement of Rome was writing to the Corinthians, “There was a time when you were... satisfied with the provisions of Christ.” (Evidently that day was gone!) Satisfied with what Christ provides for the journey. Now they were looking for something more. Disciples of every age – including our own – seem to want more than is given. We look for “signs and wonders,” bleeding statues, ‘messages.’
