Great Good News!

John 14:1-12

1"Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you? Trust me. 2 There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home. If that

weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you? 3 And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live. 4 And you already know the road I'm taking." 5 Thomas said,"Master, we have no idea where you're going. How do you expect us to know the road?" 6 Jesus said,"I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You've even seen him!" 8 Philip said,"Master, show us the Father; then we'll be content." 9"You've been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don't understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask,'Where is the Father?'10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren't mere words. I don't just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act. 11"Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see-- these works. 12 The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. 

Food for thought! Plenty of room!

It is good news for us to know that "There is plenty of room for us in our Father's home." But what did he mean when he said there were many abiding places in heaven? Does it mean that in heaven there were different grades of blessedness which would be given to people according to their goodness and their fidelity on earth? That in the world to come there are many mansions prepared good for good; evil for evil? Does it mean that in heaven there are degrees of glory, rewards and stages in proportion to our achievement in

holiness in this life? 

Speaking in purely human and inadequate terms, we sometimes feel that we would be dazzled with too much splendour, if we were immediately ushered into the very presence of God. We feel that even in heaven we would need to be purified and helped until we could face the greater glory. Be it as it may, "There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home" may simply mean that in heaven there is room for all. An earthly house becomes overcrowded; an earthly inn must sometimes turn away the weary traveller because its accommodation is exhausted. It is not so with our Father's house, for heaven is as wide as the heart of God and there is room for all. Jesus is saying to his friends: "Don't be afraid. Men may shut their doors upon you. But in my heart you will never be shut out. Isn't this good news?

And that is not all. Jesus says much more good news: I'm on my way to get a room ready for you? I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road. I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. To see me is to see the Father. If you really know me, you know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You've even seen him in me. To see me is to see the Father. The words that I speak to you aren't mere words. I don't just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act. I am in my Father and my Father is in me. Those are the good news that we do well to hold unto everyday; every time; every moment. One more reason to take Jesus serious, as today's second reading put it (1 Peter 2:4-9):

The Lord is the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house. As scripture says: See how I lay in Zion a precious cornerstone that I have chosen and the man who rests his trust on it will not be disappointed. That means that for you who are believers, it is precious; but for unbelievers, the stone rejected by the builders has proved to be the keystone, a stone to stumble over, a rock to bring men down. They stumble over it because they do not believe in the word; it was the fate in store for them. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 

Smile! Jesus loves you!