Thomas said to him, “Lord, 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" (John 14:5-6; Gospel).
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand)
Readings (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, Scotland, India)
Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)
Gospel John 14:1-12 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, 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 had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’
Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, 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 say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
‘Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.’
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us” (John 14:8; Gospel).
The first time I met Philip was when we started together in June 1947 in the boys' kindergarten in Stanhope Street, Dublin, run by the Irish Sisters of Charity, now known as the Religious Sisters of Charity. They were founded in Dublin in 1815 by Mother Mary Aikenhead. The last time Philip and I met was in July 2019 in Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin, founded by the same Sisters in 1879.
Philip was the youngest in his family and the last to die and I realised that I had known him longer than anyone else living. After kindergarten, where we made our First Holy Communion together on 20 May 1950, we went to different primary schools but were to go through secondary school together. We lived near each other and became friends shortly before we started in secondary school and soon became best friends. In our last two years in O'Connell Schools, Dublin, run by the Irish Christian Brothers, I often went to Philip's house in the evening to get some help in mathematics. Those visits always included a cup of tea and something to eat and I got to know his family very well, as he go to know mine. Anytime he visited my home my mother would later say, He’s a well-mannered boy. Philip fully supported my decision to become a Columban priest and attended my first Mass on 21 December 1967 in Holy Family Church, Aughrim Street, our parish church, along with Barbara to whom he was engaged. Two months later I officiated at their wedding.
On the evening of 24 July I got a message asking me to visit Philip in Our Lady's Hospice. This was a shock to me and I went to Dublin the following day. When I entered his room the first thing he asked me to do was to give him the Last Rites and to help him prepare for the end. I will never forget what he said to me after I had done that: I have always trusted in Jesus. May he now trust in me.
Philip had always been a man of quiet but deep faith. After his death one of our class described him in an email to me as a humble, charitable person who always put others before himself. The way he kept the Class of ’61 together was a sign of the love he had for others. (He had been the main organiser of gatherings of our Class of '61.) Philip was a just man, as St Matthew describes St Joseph (Mt 1:19), one who had followed Jesus who said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. It was a great blessing for me to be with Philip as a priest and life-long friend as he prepared for death.
Pope Benedict XVI constantly emphasised that our faith is in a Person, Jesus Christ, God who became Man. In his Regina Caeli talk on this Sunday in 2011 he said [emphases added], Faith in Jesus entails following him daily, in the simple actions that make up our day. 'It is part of the mystery of God that he acts so gently, that he only gradually builds up his history within the great history of mankind; that he becomes man and so can be overlooked by his contemporaries and by the decisive forces within history; that he suffers and dies and that, having risen again, he chooses to come to mankind only through the faith of the disciples to whom he reveals himself; that he continues to knock gently at the doors of our hearts and slowly opens our eyes if we open our doors to him'.
The Pope goes on to say, For Christians, for each one of us, hence, the way to the Father is to allow ourselves to be guided by Jesus, by his word of truth, and to receive the gift of his life.
Dear friends, the commitment to proclaim Jesus Christ, ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ (Jn 14:6), is the main task of the Church. Let us invoke the Virgin Mary that she may always assist the Pastors and those in the different ministries to proclaim the Good News of salvation, that the Word of God may be spread and the number of disciples multiplied (cf. Acts 6:7; First Reading).
The Apostle Philip, who was to lay down his life for Jesus, asked him, Show us the Father. I pray that Jesus has shown the Father to my friend Philip and to all our loved ones who have gone ahead of us.
This hymn, very popular in Ireland when
Philip and I were young, particularly in May, was written by Mary E. Walsh in
the late 1800s. The words are here. It was sung by the late Irish tenor Frank
Patterson at the Faith of Our Fathers concert in Dublin in
1997. Frank was a deeply committed Catholic and died in 2000 at the age of 61.
May he rest in peace.
Traditional Latin Mass
Fourth Sunday After Easter
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 05-03-2026 if necessary).
Epistle: James 1:17-21. Gospel: John 16:5-14.
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When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth (John 16:13; Gospel).
