FAUSTI - Philip, called directly by Jesus to follow Him ( 1,43-6) and consulted by Him on the bread ( 6,5), is the one who accepted and expressed the desire of the Greeks who want to see the Lord ( 12,21). Now he ardently asks for seeing the Father. His desire corresponds to that of Moses: " Please show me your Glory!" (Ex 33,18). It is the deep yearning of every man: "My heart said of You, "Seek His Face". Your Face, Lord, I seek! (Ps 27:8), because "just as the deer yearns for streams of water, so my soul yearns for You, O God! When will I come and see the Face of God? He, the salvation of my face and my God!" (Ps 42). His Face is our reality, because we are His image and likeness: to see Him is to become oneself. From this comes the natural desire to see God. It is that openness to the infinite that makes man go beyond himself: he is a desiring animal "too big to be enough for himself "B. Pascal Every man desires to know the Father. In Him he finds that otherness of love that makes Him be what He is. The time that Jesus has spent with us is that in which, whoever knows Him as a Son, sees the Father. His entire earthly existence is nothing more than revelation of the Father in His Love of Son for His brothers and sisters. His flesh is the very Word of God addressed to man to recreate him in His image. The creation of man, in fact, is always open: is the constant work of the Word, in synergy with our listening. "Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father". These words are the compendium of Christian revelation: the Face of the man Jesus, our brother is "The Face". He is the Only Begotten, always towards the bosom of the Father, Who has turned to us to show us Him. "It is not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God's side: He has seen the Father (1,18- 6,46). The Face of the Son, unconditional love for His brothers and sisters, is the same as that of the Father: He does what He sees to be done by Him (5:19). What the Gospel has told us so far about Jesus has shown us His Face and that of the Father. That is why "he who sees me, sees the One who sent me" (12:45). To know and see the Father is to believe that Jesus is in the Father. There is talk of mutual immanence between Father and Son. In fact, the beloved dwells in those who love Him. Their mutual love makes them one another's dwelling place. Every Word of the Son is from the Father: He himself is the Word that the Father addresses to us in order to enter into communion with us and give Himself to us. His Word gives what it says because it is what it says. The Father's own work is to love and to give life. Every action of the Son is the same as that of the Father: It communicates to us their mutual Love, Life of both. Jesus tells us to believe not only "in" Him, but also "to" Him, while He says these words, in which He reveals that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. If we adhere to Him, we too are in the Father and the Father in us: God is the place where we are at home, children in the Son.
--- Faith in Jesus, reliable for His works and His words, is an antidote to the upheaval and consequent bewilderment. Believing in Him unlocks our fears and frees our reality as children and brothers. Jesus asks us to trust Him while He is accomplishing and explaining the thing that most disturbs us: His leaving. The proof that His Words are true will be the works that we will accomplish when He returns to the Father. Certainly we will not do works greater than He who fed the crowds and brought out a dead man from the tomb. But just as the meaning is greater than the sign, so loving as He loved us is greater than feeding alive or raising dead: it is passing from a life for death to the very life of God. Nothing we do is really great. Only love is greater than everything, because without it everything is nothing. These greatest works are the "much fruit" that the branches will bear while remaining united to the vine. The only reasonable explanation for love is love itself. Only love is credible, worthy of trust, because it is visible in practice. To believe in concrete is to ask. Faith has the breath of prayer. It gives voice to the fundamental desire of man, the need of the other for himself. Jesus guarantees that He will do what we ask Him in His Name: united with Him, the Son, we ask and obtain what we need to live as brothers. The certainty of fulfillment gives us the confidence necessary for the request to be effective. In fact, we must ask "with faith, without hesitation, because whoever hesitates resembles the wave of the sea, moved and agitated by the wind, and does not think to receive something from the Lord a man who has an oscillating and unstable soul in all his actions". (Gc1,6-8). If we ask with confidence and we do not obtain, it is because we ask badly, to satisfy our selfishness (Jas 4:3). The trust of a filial heart, which asks according to the Father's wishes, truly obtains everything. It even obtains the Holy Spirit, the gift of God's life (Lk 11:13) visible from its fruit of love, joy and peace.
A reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles Acts 13:44-52
On the following sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said. Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth.”
The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this and glorified the word of the Lord. All who were destined for eternal life came to believe, and the word of the Lord continued to spread through the whole region. The Jews, however, incited the women of prominence who were worshipers and the leading men of the city, stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
Gospel of the day From the Gospel according to 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.”
The words of the Popes During the Last Supper, after Jesus affirmed that to know him was also to know the Father (cf. Jn 14: 7), Philip quite ingenuously asks him: "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied" (Jn 14: 8). Jesus answered with a gentle rebuke: "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?... Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me" (Jn 14: 9-11). These words are among the most exalted in John's Gospel. They contain a true and proper revelation. At the end of the Prologue to his Gospel, John says: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known" (Jn 1: 18). Well, that declaration which is made by the Evangelist is taken up and confirmed by Jesus himself, but with a fresh nuance. (…) To express ourselves in accordance with the paradox of the Incarnation we can certainly say that God gave himself a human face, the Face of Jesus, and consequently, from now on, if we truly want to know the Face of God, all we have to do is to contemplate the Face of Jesus! In his Face we truly see who God is and what he looks like! (Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, 6 September 2006)
FAUSTI - Philip, called directly by Jesus to follow Him ( 1,43-6) and consulted by Him on the bread ( 6,5), is the one who accepted and expressed the desire of the Greeks who want to see the Lord ( 12,21).
RispondiEliminaNow he ardently asks for seeing the Father.
His desire corresponds to that of Moses: " Please show me your Glory!" (Ex 33,18).
It is the deep yearning of every man: "My heart said of You, "Seek His Face". Your Face, Lord, I seek! (Ps 27:8), because "just as the deer yearns for streams of water, so my soul yearns for You, O God! When will I come and see the Face of God? He, the salvation of my face and my God!" (Ps 42).
His Face is our reality, because we are His image and likeness: to see Him is to become oneself. From this comes the natural desire to see God.
It is that openness to the infinite that makes man go beyond himself: he is a desiring animal "too big to be enough for himself "B. Pascal
Every man desires to know the Father.
In Him he finds that otherness of love that makes Him be what He is.
The time that Jesus has spent with us is that in which, whoever knows Him as a Son, sees the Father.
His entire earthly existence is nothing more than revelation of the Father in His Love of Son for His brothers and sisters.
His flesh is the very Word of God addressed to man to recreate him in His image.
The creation of man, in fact, is always open:
is the constant work of the Word, in synergy with our listening.
"Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father".
These words are the compendium of Christian revelation: the Face of the man Jesus, our brother is "The Face".
He is the Only Begotten, always towards the bosom of the Father, Who has turned to us to show us Him.
"It is not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God's side: He has seen the Father (1,18- 6,46).
The Face of the Son, unconditional love for His brothers and sisters, is the same as that of the Father: He does what He sees to be done by Him (5:19).
What the Gospel has told us so far about Jesus has shown us His Face and that of the Father. That is why "he who sees me, sees the One who sent me" (12:45). To know and see the Father is to believe that Jesus is in the Father.
There is talk of mutual immanence between Father and Son. In fact, the beloved dwells in those who love Him.
Their mutual love makes them one another's dwelling place. Every Word of the Son is from the Father: He himself is the Word that the Father addresses to us in order to enter into communion with us and give Himself to us.
His Word gives what it says because it is what it says.
The Father's own work is to love and to give life. Every action of the Son is the same as that of the Father: It communicates to us their mutual Love, Life of both.
Jesus tells us to believe not only "in" Him, but also "to" Him, while He says these words,
in which He reveals that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him.
If we adhere to Him, we too are in the Father and the Father in us: God is the place where we are at home,
children in the Son.
--- Faith in Jesus, reliable for His works and His words, is an antidote to the upheaval and consequent bewilderment. Believing in Him unlocks our fears and frees our reality as children and brothers.
RispondiEliminaJesus asks us to trust Him while He is accomplishing and explaining the thing that most disturbs us: His leaving. The proof that His Words are true will be the works that we will accomplish when He returns to the Father.
Certainly we will not do works greater than He who fed the crowds and brought out a dead man from the tomb. But just as the meaning is greater than the sign, so loving as He loved us is greater than feeding alive or raising dead: it is passing from a life for death to the very life of God. Nothing we do is really great.
Only love is greater than everything, because without it everything is nothing.
These greatest works are the "much fruit" that the branches will bear while remaining united to the vine.
The only reasonable explanation for love is love itself. Only love is credible, worthy of trust, because it is visible in practice.
To believe in concrete is to ask. Faith has the breath of prayer.
It gives voice to the fundamental desire of man, the need of the other for himself.
Jesus guarantees that He will do what we ask Him in His Name: united with Him, the Son, we ask and obtain what we need to live as brothers. The certainty of fulfillment gives us the confidence necessary for the request to be effective. In fact, we must ask "with faith, without hesitation, because whoever hesitates resembles the wave of the sea, moved and agitated by the wind, and does not think to receive something from the Lord a man who has an oscillating and unstable soul in all his actions".
(Gc1,6-8). If we ask with confidence and we do not obtain, it is because we ask badly, to satisfy our selfishness (Jas 4:3).
The trust of a filial heart, which asks according to the Father's wishes, truly obtains everything.
It even obtains the Holy Spirit,
the gift of God's life (Lk 11:13) visible from its fruit of love, joy and peace.
A reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles
RispondiEliminaActs 13:44-52
On the following sabbath
almost the whole city
gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy
and with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said.
Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said,
“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first,
but since you reject it
and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life,
we now turn to the Gentiles.
For so the Lord has commanded us,
I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
that you may be an instrument of salvation
to the ends of the earth.”
The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this
and glorified the word of the Lord.
All who were destined for eternal life came to believe,
and the word of the Lord continued to spread
through the whole region.
The Jews, however, incited the women of prominence who were worshipers
and the leading men of the city,
stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas,
and expelled them from their territory.
So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them
and went to Iconium.
The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
Gospel of the day
From the Gospel according to 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.”
The words of the Popes
During the Last Supper, after Jesus affirmed that to know him was also to know the Father (cf. Jn 14: 7), Philip quite ingenuously asks him: "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied" (Jn 14: 8). Jesus answered with a gentle rebuke: "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?... Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me" (Jn 14: 9-11). These words are among the most exalted in John's Gospel. They contain a true and proper revelation. At the end of the Prologue to his Gospel, John says: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known" (Jn 1: 18). Well, that declaration which is made by the Evangelist is taken up and confirmed by Jesus himself, but with a fresh nuance. (…) To express ourselves in accordance with the paradox of the Incarnation we can certainly say that God gave himself a human face, the Face of Jesus, and consequently, from now on, if we truly want to know the Face of God, all we have to do is to contemplate the Face of Jesus! In his Face we truly see who God is and what he looks like! (Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, 6 September 2006)