5th Sunday of Easter (Year A) - 7 May
7th May 2023
5th Sunday of Easter (Year A) - 7 May
“Go often my dear ones and place yourself at the feet of Jesus. He is our comfort, our way, and our life.” - St Frances Xavier Cabrini
A reflection on today's Gospel by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen:
"Our Blessed Lord left the world without leaving any written message. His doctrine was Himself. Ideal and History were identified in Him. The truth that all other ethical teachers proclaimed, and the light that they gave to the world, was not in them, but outside them. Our Divine Lord, however, identified Divine Wisdom with Himself. It was the first time in history that it was ever done, and it has never been done since.
"This identification of His Personality with Wisdom He broadened when He said: ‘I am the Way; I am Truth and Life; Nobody can come to the Father, except through Me. If you had learned to recognise Me you would have learned to recognise My Father too’ (John 14:6-7).
"This is equivalent to saying that without the Way there is no going; without the Truth, there is no knowing; without the Life, there is no living. The Way becomes lovable, not when it is in abstract codes and commandments, but when it is Personal. As Plato once said, “The Father of the world is hard to discover, and when discovered cannot be communicated.” Our Lord’s answer to Plato would have been that the Father is hard to discover unless He is revealed through the Person of His Son.
"There is no such thing as seeking first the truth and then finding Christ, any more than there is any point in lighting tapers to find the sun. As scientific truths put us in an intelligent relation with the cosmos, as historic truth puts us in temporal relation with the rise and fall of civilizations, so does Christ put us in intelligent relation with God the Father; for He is the only possible Word by which God can address Himself to a world of sinners.
"‘My Father has entrusted everything into My hands; None knows the Son truly except the Father, and none knows the Father truly except the Son, and those to whom it is the Son’s good pleasure to reveal Him’ (Matthew 11:27).
"Life is resident in Him in virtue of an eternal communication from the Father. All who came before Him, and who will come after Him, and who offer any other way than Himself, He compares with thieves and robbers of mankind.
"‘It is I Who am the door of the sheep-fold. Those others who have found their way in are all thieves and robbers; To these, the sheep paid no attention. I am the door; a man will find salvation if he makes his way in through Me; He will come and go at will, and find pasture’ (John 10:7–7).
"No one else ever made His personality the condition of securing peace or eternal life. Our Blessed Lord, however, identified Personality with a door; it is an emblem of separation because on the one side is the world and on the other side the home; but also it is a sign of protection, hospitality, and relationship. As the old city of Troy had but one gate, so Our Blessed Lord said that He is the only Gate to salvation." (Life of Christ)
Prayer for Grace and Guidance
Lord Jesus, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. Grant us the grace and courage to follow You as You lead the way to God the Father. Send the Holy Spirit to envelope our minds and hearts that we may clearly see and hear the truth. Let us not be deceived by the lies of the devil. We pray You to bestow Your blessing upon us that we may inherit the eternal life promised to those who keep Your word. Be our guide and light and let us never lose sight of You. Help us to become reflections of Yourself so that we may only ever desire to do the will of the Father. Amen. 💖💐🙏
Food for thought
‘No one who follows Me will ever walk in darkness’ (John 8:12). These words of our Lord counsel all to walk in His footsteps. If you want to see clearly and avoid blindness of heart, it is His virtues you must imitate. Make it your aim to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ.
Christ’s teaching surpasses that of all the Saints. But to find this spiritual nourishment you must seek to have the Spirit of Christ. It is because we lack this Spirit that so often we listen to the Gospel without really hearing it. Those who fully understand Christ’s words must labour to make their lives conform to His.
Nothing matters except to love God and to serve Him only.