Word to the Wise
Friday, May 5, 2023 - 4th Week of Easter - Fri
[Acts 13:26-33 and John 14:1-6]"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way." Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." [John]
MAY 5 ST. VINCENT FERRER, OP - theologian and preacher
The gospel scriptures, for some days to come, are taken from the "Last Supper discourse" in the Gospel According to John. The evangelist gathered together many traditions about Jesus' teachings and placed them in this section of the gospel without a single roadmap of logic. The ostensible purpose of the discourse is to prepare the disciples, dramatically, for what would be happening a little later, but the long-term effect has been to take this discourse out of its Last Supper context and make it a random collection of statements. The last lines of today's passage are an example.
Some post-Reformation Christian traditions have taken Jesus' words: I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me..." to mean that only those who have an express faith in Jesus will be "saved." Since belief in "purgatory" or "limbo" is not part of those traditions, their interpretation of Jesus' words leaves billions of human beings outside of eternal life through no fault of their own. Catholic tradition does not accept that interpretation. God's providence extends to all of creation. We who have faith in Jesus as the one whom God has sent are singularly blessed in that truth, but we have no right to declare someone who has never heard of Jesus or never raised in a non-Christian faith tradition (Jews, Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.) to be outside of God's providential care. We have to leave the "What about...." questions to God's mercy. The lines from the Gospel According to John in the last chapter, when Peter inquires about what is going to happen to the Beloved Disciple, come to my mind. Jesus tells Peter: "What concern is it of yours? You follow me." [John 21:22]. Our task is to share the Good News and leave the rest fo God. AMEN