Memory of Jesus crucified

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 14,1-6

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house there are many places to live in; otherwise I would have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you to myself, so that you may be with me where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?' Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Jesus is does not want the bonds of friendship to break, rather that they last for eternity. He does not abandon his friends; he wants them to be with him forever. He goes ahead to prepare a place for each one of us in the large house of the Father. With these words, Jesus sheds a small glimmer of light on our future. How often do we wonder about the afterlife and ask ourselves what happened to our friends who have already passed on, those whom we loved and perhaps those for whom we worked and suffered! The Gospel does not leave us without an answer for these questions. Rather, as if wanting us to physically touch consolation with our own hands, Jesus speaks of heaven as a spacious house inhabited by our friends, both those nearby and far away. Jesus himself is the certain path that leads us to them and to that place. In the bond with him lies the guarantee that nothing of our life will be lost: not one thought, not one affectionate deed is done in vain, but everything is gathered and preserved like a precious treasure illuminated by the light of the announcement of life's victory over death, which we received at Easter. Jesus seems so convinced that the disciples understood the truth about what lies beyond death that he says: "And you know the way to the place where I am going." In truth, that was not the case, just as it is not the case with us today. Thomas, on behalf of all, asks what the way was. And Jesus, once again, explains clearly: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." By remaining united to him we are guaranteed to follow the right path all the way to the Father who is in heaven.