John 14:7-14

Acts 13:44-52

Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

John 14:7-14

Jesus said to his disciples:

“If you know me, then you will also know my Father.

From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to Jesus,

“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time

and you still do not know me, Philip?

Whoever 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 is in me?

The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.

The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.

Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,

or else, believe because of the works themselves.

Amen, amen, I say to you,

whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,

and will do greater ones than these,

because I am going to the Father.

And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,

so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, my deepest desire is eternal communion with you. I long to see your face and enjoy your blessedness. Guide me on my journey to you and empower me to accomplish the greater works your Son has revealed. Glorify your name!

Encountering the Word of God

1. Communion with the Father and the Son: Today’s Gospel brings out the fact that the truth of our salvation in Christ is inseparable from the truth of his divine sonship. Jesus, the Son of God, was sent by the Father to save us and to bring us into communion with the Father. We are called to believe that the Son is in the Father and that the Father is in the Son. This communion between the Father and the Son is manifested in the divine works that the Son accomplishes. The divine works of the Son are the works of his Father. When we enter into that communion between Father, Son, and Spirit through faith and Baptism, we too will accomplish the works of God.

2. Preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles: During their ministry in Antioch in Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas were invited to preach again in the local synagogue on the Sabbath (Acts 13:42). Paul concluded his first sermon, given the week before on the Sabbath, by affirming that through Jesus’ death and resurrection the forgiveness of sins is now possible (Acts 13:38). What the observance of the law of Moses could not accomplish for us – justification and forgiveness – Jesus Christ has accomplished. As believers, we are justified in Christ (Acts 13:39). Paul reminds his listeners that they have received the offer of salvation in Christ and that they are to remain faithful to this grace of God (Acts 13:43). The success of Paul’s first sermon is evident. Almost the entire city goes out to hear the word of the Lord preached by Paul. The Jews became envious of this success and began to argue with Paul and tried to contradict his message. This rejection of the Gospel by some of the Jewish people led Paul and Barnabas to turn to the Gentiles. In this way, they bring to fulfillment the prophecy of Isaiah: “I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). The prophesy originally referred to Israel and her mission to spread knowledge and worship of the one true God among the nations. The prophecy was applied by Simeon to Jesus at the presentation in the temple (Luke 2:30-32). Now, Paul and Barnabas discern that God is commanding them to continue Jesus’ mission. “The Gospel itself did not show how Simeon’s prophecy was fulfilled or how Jesus’ mission actually affected Gentiles beyond Israel. It is in Acts that Jesus’ mission to the Gentiles is accomplished in what he does and teaches through his Spirit-filled disciples” (Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, p. 219).

3. Destined for Eternal Life: The Gentiles enthusiastically welcomed the Word of God. They believed and received the gift of eternal life. Luke says that those who believed “were destined for eternal life.” This does not mean that God arbitrarily chose to predestine some people to salvation and others to condemnation. All men and women are ordered and directed to eternal life. We are destined to be God’s children through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-6). Predestination, then, is the eternal knowledge that God has of the ordering and directing of human beings and angels to salvation and eternal life. Predestination is part of God’s providential knowledge of the order of all creation to himself as the end of all things. When God governs his creation, he executes his eternal and providential plan in them; when he calls and justifies the human being, he brings to fulfillment his eternal plan of predestination (Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, I, q. 23, a. 2). Paul teaches in the Letter to the Romans that God foreknew us and predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Those he predestined in Christ he called, and those he called he justified, and those he justified he glorified (Romans 8:28-30). God’s eternal predestination does not take away our freedom: “When God establishes his eternal plan of predestination he includes in it each person’s free response to his grace” (CCC, 600). 

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have forgiven my sins and established me in a right relationship with God the Father. I have been healed and justified by your grace and granted divine sonship. Help me to live as a true child of God and heed the words of my Father in heaven.

Living the Word of God: A person can choose to reject God’s call and grace. They can reject God’s love and mercy. When we reject God’s merciful love, we abuse the gift of our freedom and bring condemnation upon ourselves. When we accept and collaborate with the grace of God’s merciful love, we use the gift of our freedom properly and are brought to share in eternal life. Will I accept or reject God’s grace and mercy today?