JESUS shows his concern and cares for us this Sunday by telling us, “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?” (John 14:1-4)
His words have multi-layered meanings. First, he tells us not to be worried, fearful or anxious about life’s challenges and difficulties, but to have deep trust in God, our Father, who provides for our needs and loves us despite our weaknesses beyond our imagination.
Second, he tells that to trust in him, the Son of God, who came down from heaven to become human like us, to live and struggle like any person and to show us the way by his life, death, and resurrection.
Third, he tells us to hope for a greater life beyond this world, a life he promised to share with us if we believe in him and follow his teachings.
In all of these meanings, what challenges anyone who lives in this world is to trust in Jesus as God, to believe in his words and all the truths he claims, and to follow the path of his sacrificial love. For in this Sunday’s Gospel he tells us that he and the Father are one. He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then will also know my Father…the Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”
Jesus’ claim speaks of the will and heart of God that desires for our total well-being, our salvation from all forms of oppressive forces and sin, and our return to our true home in heaven to be with him forever.
What’s so great about these desires of God is that he gave us the image—the Sacrament par excellence—of someone that we can relate to and contemplate. That image is the person of Jesus in all that he had shown us while he lived in this world like reaching out to sinners, the sick, the poor, and all those who felt alienated in the society. And what’s even greater is that he has left his Spirit in the Church through his words, the Sacraments, the faith and good works of his believing people.
It is all up to us to continue trusting in Jesus, to grow in faith, and to share this faith with those who are still looking for meaning, fulfillment, and truth. However distracted we are by the concerns and difficulties of life, we have to believe in Jesus and to see every mundane experience in the light of the Gospel.
The important thing is to always feel God’s presence, providence, and love in Jesus.
On this Mother’s Day, may we grow in faith and trust in God who tells us in Isaiah 49:15, “Can a woman forget her own baby and love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you.”
In Jesus and Mary, Happy Mother’s Day!
