Jesus is the only true image of God.
Listening the Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, light that guides our journey.
Teach us to listen with the ears of the heart.
Make our hearts docile and open to Your presence.
Lead us to recognize Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Help us to remain in Him, to trust in Him,
and to live each day in the love of the Father. Amen.
Listening the Word: 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
In the Gospel today Jesus tells us that no one can come to the Father except through him. That is
a very strong statement. It means that the only way to access God, the Father, is to pass through
Jesus. If we want to see God, we must look at Jesus, because he is the true face of God, the
Father: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”.
Any other image of God that we might have is a false image. Any idea of God that does not
correspond to what Jesus has told us, is a wrong idea.
So, when we look at Jesus, what do we see? We see a man nailed to a cross. The crucifix is the
true image of God. When we look at the crucified Jesus we see a God who is ready to give his
life to his children. A God who does not condemn, but forgives. A God with open arms, always
ready to welcome anyone who believes in and accept his love.
To some people, even among Christians, this sounds too good to be true, and so they prefer to
stuck to a God who is the inflexible judge, the one who rewards the just with heaven but
punishes sinners with hell. These people still see diseases, accidents and any kind of misfortune
as punishments from God, as the majority of people did at the time of Jesus. But he destroyed
this image of God by accepting to be nailed on the cross.
Reflection Questions
- When I think of God, do I truly see Him in the face of Jesus—especially in the crucified Christ—or do I still hold on to images of a distant or punishing God?
- How does contemplating Jesus on the cross challenge or transform the way I understand suffering, forgiveness, and God’s love in my daily life?
