Weekly thoughts on the Sunday Gospel, readings or a topic...

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seeing your life through the lens of the gospels – John 14:1-12
1. ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.’ Trust in another person can help us in difficult times. Remember and give thanks for the people you were able to trust in difficult moments. Remember also when your faith in God helped you through anxious moments.
2. Thomas struggled with the desire, which is in all of us, to know the exact destination before we set out. Jesus invites us to make an act of faith and to take one step at a time. Can you recall times when it helped you to take that trusting attitude to life?
3. Jesus proposed himself to Thomas as the way, the truth and the life. In what ways has Jesus been the way, the truth and the life for you on your faith journey?
4. Philip wanted Jesus to give him a glimpse of God and got the surprising answer ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.’ Jesus put a human face on the love of God. He gives us a glimpse of the divine. We are Jesus in the world today, called to follow Jesus and to put a human face on the love of God for those who meet us. Who are the people whose love has helped you to believe in the love of God? To whom have you given an occasional glimpse of the divine?  – John Byrne, OSA

The Deep End
In today’s Gospel, Philip and Thomas are desperate to understand more fully where Jesus is going, how they can get there and what God is like. Big questions! Jesus tries to reassure them, ‘do not let your hearts be troubled.’ Jesus is urging the disciples to embrace the journey rather than focusing on the destination. It is only in the light of the events that will happen to them (and us) that this period of time will be understood. It is always about the journey. As the saying goes, ‘Life can only be understood backwards but must be lived forwards’ (Kierkegaard).
In the Old Testament, we read that people experienced God in different ways. For example, Moses experienced God in a burning bush or a cloud; for Elijah it was a whisper; for Solomon, it was in a dream. We each have our personal relationship with God, yet any words we try to put on this relationship can seem insufficient. Yet in Jesus we can experience what God is like and enter into a personal relationship. Jesus models the way for us, shows us that God is love, compassion, inclusive, embracing of all people. To know Jesus is to know God.
This only makes sense in light of John’s opening lines of the Gospel, where he says ‘The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us...’ (Jn 1:14). Jesus shows us what the presence of God in this world looks like and also what it means to be fully human. Jesus says, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life...’ This truth lies deep within us and in the world around us. We are each called to discover this truth. Perhaps today is an opportunity to reflect on those personal God-experiences of deep peace and love.  
– Jane Mellett

(from Intercom)