Show Us the Father: Reflections on the Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

If you haven’t already read the readings you can find them here.

Acts 6:1-7
Psalm 33
1 Peter 2:4-9
John 14:1-12

All prayer goes to the Father. This is why Jesus directed us to pray “Our Father.” This is why we make our prayers “through our Lord Jesus Christ” or “in Jesus’ name we pray.” Today Jesus is making that point with His telling the apostles that He is going to the Father. As with so many other things He taught them they still did not fully understand the unity of Himself with the Father (and the Holy Spirit), and so they ask Him to “show us the Father.”

We begin the readings today with another excerpt from Acts of the Apostles. This one has critical importance, not only for the early Church but for the Church today. It is the creation of the diaconate. Here we see that the apostles were concerned about teaching and preaching and that the number of followers had grown to where some of what might be called their charitable duties were getting beyond them (sound familiar?). In order to rectify the situation they ordained “seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

Note their ordination by the laying on of hands, “They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them.” “Among these was St. Stephen who would become the first Martyr for Christ whose death also will have great significance for the Church, which is a subject covered in Cycle C (see Acts 7, 8:1-3, 9:1-31).

One of the lessons we get from the early Church is to trust the Lord. This wasn’t a new teaching as it goes back to Adam and Eve in the Garden, who didn’t trust Him despite giving them Paradise and dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26). The responsorial psalm echoes this lesson as we say, “Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.” This was a lesson that it seems the early Israelites, despite having been rescued by God from slavery in Egypt, always seemed to forget. We often do the same and trust more in ourselves than in the graces and help that God sends us every day.

The psalm gets to the heart of the matter: “Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy. He loves justice and right; of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.” Think about your own life. How many times did your trust in others fail you, but when you returned to the Lord, things got better? I know it happened for me, it happened for the Israelites, and it will happen for you if you but trust in the Lord.

In a way Peter picks up this theme when he says, “Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God ...” Peter warns his audience as well as us when he tells them, “They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.” He reminds them that Jesus was the cornerstone, sent by God, to “be built into a spiritual house ...” This spiritual house is the Church, the body of Christ and we who are members of that body would do well to attend to our spiritual growth and well-being.

In the gospel Jesus also speaks of trust when He tells the apostles “You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” This is part of the Last Supper discourse. At this time Jesus has been going through the Passover meal. Judas has already left, into the darkness (“and it was night,” John 13:30) to betray Jesus, but the Light of the World remains with the apostles.

And not only is Jesus the Light of the World, but He also tells the apostles, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” He tells them that the path to the Father (i.e., to heaven) can only be found through Him, “the Way.” “The Way” is what the early Church referred to itself after the Resurrection. It wasn’t until Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch that they were called “Christians” (Acts 11:26).

In this gospel reading Jesus once again asserts His unity with the Father. “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.” By referring to His works, Jesus is again affirming His divinity. This is something the Hebrews should have recognized as it is spoken of several times in various psalms.

In Psalm 78, for instance, the psalmist tells the Israelites, “... that they too might put their confidence in God, And not forget God’s deeds, but keep his commandments.” And early in John’s gospel, Jesus seems surprised when talking with the pharisee, Nicodemus, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this?” (John 3:10) At that time Jesus was talking about being reborn of the Spirit, but this also relates to the many disconnects the pharisees had with the many prophecies and descriptions relating to the Messiah and how God (including Jesus) manifests Himself by His works (see also John 10:25).

Furthermore, after feeding the five thousand, Jesus identifies Himself with the work of God telling them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” This is the beginning of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:26-71). At the end of John’s gospel he notes that not everything Jesus did is contained in the gospels: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31, emphasis added.)

These readings should strengthen our faith in Jesus and in the Trinity. We see the Trinity at work, led by the Holy Spirit, in the creation of the diaconate and the selection of the first deacons. We see the Trinity at work through Jesus noting how His works are from the Father. And we see the unity of the Trinity when Jesus tells the apostles, “The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.” They also give us hope, the hope in the knowledge that there is a place for us in heaven.