As we walk through the Easter season, we continue to try to fathom the consequences and effects of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus. Now, after the consideration of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, we dedicate two Sundays to ponder the Sermon of the Last Supper. This year we have a couple of texts from John 14. As always in the Liturgy, we only get some fractured excerpts of the texts, which makes it impossible to appreciate the unity and richness of a Sermon like that.
Chapter 14 is at the beginning of the Sermon. Verses 1-12 teach key aspects in relation to the mystery of Jesus Christ. First, Christ says that He is going away but will come back to take the believers with Him. To this, Thomas points out they do not know where He is going; hence, they have no clue about the way. Then, Jesus asserts He Himself is the way (and the truth and the life) and that the final destination is the Father. To this, Philip asks to be shown the Father. Then, Jesus makes the most astonishing assertion: “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” And so, Jesus, who began by saying “you have faith in God; have also faith in Me,” concludes by saying “whoever believes in Me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these.”
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Jesus’ answer to Philip appears in its entire dimension if we pay attention to a similar experience Moses had gone through, which is referred to in Exodus 33. The Israelites had made a covenant with the Lord at Mount Sinai through Moses’ mediation. Then came the critical moment of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32-34). In the process of mediating to assuage God’s wrath, Moses asked for the grace to see God, but he was refused: “you cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live” (see Ex 33:20). In light of this, Philip’s request sounds strange, and Jesus’ answer to Philip is even more bewildering because He declares to be mutually indwelling in the Father (to a Jewish mindset, Jesus’ statement may even be considered blasphemous).
In reality, Philip manifests the desire to reach the Ultimate Source of Life and Happiness (or Beatitude): the Father. The Biblical revelation of the Old Testament made clear that only He fulfils the Ultimate desire of the human heart: “As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When can I enter and see the face of God?” (Ps 42:2-3). “‘Come,’ says my heart, ‘seek his face’; your face, LORD, do I seek!” (Ps 27:8).
The same desire was beautifully expressed by the great mystical poet St. John of the Cross: “Oh flame of love so living, / how tenderly you force / to my soul’s inmost core your fiery probe! / Since now you’ve no misgiving, / end it, pursue your course / and for our sweet encounter tear the robe!” (The Living Flame of Love, stanza 1; note: the robe is the veil that is the human flesh).
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As you can easily realize, all of this deeply resonates in the celebration of the Eucharist, in particular with the moment of communion (keep in mind that this Sermon was pronounced by Jesus in the Cenacle’s most intimate atmosphere, at the moment of the institution of the Eucharist). However, it more than just resonates. In fact, a few verses later, Jesus brings to a close the first part of the Sermon by repeating the same introductory words: “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” but this time he precedes them with a significant addition: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (Jn 14:27). I am sure you hear very clearly the echoes of the Eucharistic celebration.
Peace is the gift of the Risen Jesus (see Jn 20:19, 26). St. Ignatius of Loyola, in his Rules for Discernment of Spirits, points out that peace in the soul is the sign of God’s intervention in our lives.
What all of the above ultimately leads to is fittingly indicated in the second reading: “let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1Peter 2:5; see Romans 12:1-2).