May 3, 2026: Fifth Sunday of Easter
Gospel: John 14:1-12
Jesus said to his disciples: “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. 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 him, “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.”
Reflection
Oh, these apostles. Oh, WE apostles.
“Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me?”
I have been walking around this world for 61 years. I have been learning, reading, praying, studying, wondering and pondering. I desire to know God. I think God desires to know me. And yet, so often, I find myself unable to respond to this question in a straightforward way.
I can share stories with you about who Jesus is as I come to know him through scripture. I can make application of those stories in my life. I can tell you some things I have experienced about God, and I can introduce you to some people sent by God to my life. Is this a way to describe and express how I know God?
I recall the words of a song that seem to connect here. The words are, “they will know we are Christians by our love, by our love.”
These words have me thinking that all the rest of what I described about understanding God makes no sense if I am not walking around in and with love every day of my life.
Action
Have you experienced awakening in the morning with a song, a prayer, or a passage of Scripture “in your mind?” Or have strong recollection of a dream you had in the night?
The next time this happens, take time to write about the experience in a journal and then let a few days pass. Review what you wrote and see what surfaces.
