Gospel Reflection For The 26th day of April in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
John 14:1-6
1 Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I shall go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to myself; that where I am, you also may be. 4 And whither I go you know, and the way you know. 5 Thomas saith to him: Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me.
For Christians, today’s Gospel is one of great hope and joy. Through Jesus, we may attain Heaven and eternal life! As with all holy teachings though, from the first Covenant of God with Abraham and His Commandments given to Moses, to the ministry of Christ, there is both a blessing and a curse. The reason for this is that God always respects our free will. We are free to choose to obey God and receive our reward, or disobey God and receive our judgment. He never forces us.
Obviously, it is tragic for those of other religions, who do not believe in Jesus, and for those who do not believe in God at all. Our Lord said plainly, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” But, it is even more tragic for those of us who do believe in the Christian God to reject the teachings of Jesus.
In today’s first reading, Saint Paul appears in a synagogue and explains to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah foretold by the prophets. He explains that they rejected Him, just as the prophets foretold. They had Him killed, just as the prophets foretold and that he rose from dead, again, just as the prophets foretold. They rejected Jesus, just as they rejected the prophets, because they did not understand and accept the Word of God. However, Jesus is the eternal Word of God. Many came to believe in the risen Christ specifically because Saint Paul and the others “opened” or explained the scriptures to them. Others still rejected our Lord and sought to kill Saint Paul and the other early Christians.
It is important to note though, that because Jesus is the Word of God, all Jews who find salvation do so through Him even if they do not know Him as we do. Each man will be judged by God individually, and the gravity of sin is based on his personal understanding of sin and his choice to freely disobey God. Like the Jews to whom Saint Paul preached, we each have all that is necessary for our salvation, but we must accept the teachings of Christ and His Church. We can be saved neither through other religions nor our opinions should they disagree with God. God, in His mercy forgives both our ignorance and our weakness. We must not, though, mistake mercy for license. Humility before God is to abandon our ideas that are in conflict with His Word. Any time that we think we know best, we make ourselves our own god and become idol worshipers. God is the author of truth and we must conform to and accept His teachings. Through our arrogance, we are capable of all error.
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.