A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
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.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to his disciples during the Last Supper on the night before his crucifixion. He tells them not to let their hearts be troubled and that he will prepare a place for them in his Father’s house and come back again to take them to himself so that, as Jesus says, “where I am you also may be.” Thomas, uncertain of the way to follow him, asks how they can know the way. Jesus tells him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This is the same Jesus, the I AM, who is God made man. In saying, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” Jesus is not proposing principles by which to live in truth; instead, the Son of God is the way and the truth and the life.
God, help me understand the love Jesus had for his disciples and his desire to be with them always. By that same love, Jesus prepares a place for me and will come to take me to himself so that I may also be where he is. Your Son is the way to your house and its many dwelling places.
From the Gospel acclamation, let me remember this prayer throughout the day: “I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.” Stay with me, Lord! Teach me the desire to come to you always.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.