The Fifth Sunday in Paschaltide (A) : Trust – Faith

In the Gospel Reading last Sunday (John 10:1-4), Jesus said that his sheep recognizes his voice and follow him (John 10:4). It is because the sheep trust him as their Good Shepherd. In this trust-based relationship between Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and us, his sheep, there is security, in which we have no fear and no lacking, as reflected in Psalm 23.

This Sunday, we continue to reflect on trust – our trust in Jesus. In the Gospel context, trust and faith are essentially the same, as the Greek word used in the New Testament for faith, pistis (πίστις), literally means trust. In today’s Gospel reading (John 14:1-12), through his gentile Word, Jesus guides his anxious disciples on how their trust (faith) in him will enable them to continue working on his way, without being plagued by separation anxiety, even when his physical presence is not with them. He was doing this to prepare them to continue on with his way, even after his Ascension. Namely, the Gospel text is a first 12 verses of his farewell speech and prayer, spanning from John 14:1 to John 17:26, in response to his foretelling of his departure from the disciples (John 13:31-33).

Knowing the disciple’s reaction with anticipatory grief, resulting in anxiety, Jesus gave his farewell discourse and prayer with comforting words, before he was taken away by those who were eager to kill him. Through his discourse and prayer, Jesus prepared the disciples for their inevitable transition to work with another Parakletos, the Holy Spirit (John 14:16) , having assisted the work of the original Parakletos (1 John 2:1) in the past 3 years.

The First Reading (Acts of the Apostles 6:1-7) gives a snapshot of how the disciples continued on with the way of Jesus without his physical presence but with the guidance and empowerment by the another Parakletos, the Holy Spirit.  They resolved an issue, brought by the Hellenist members of the nascent Church, by adding more ministers to work the way of Jesus, by ordaining seven new deacons, including Stephan, who is full of faith, filled with the Holy Spirit.

The responsorial Psalm from Psalm 33 sings our trust in God as it is essential for His Mercy, the Divine Mercy.

In the Second Reading (1 Peter 2:4-9), in his “first encyclical”, Peter, the first Pope, the first representative of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, entrusted by him, gives a justification for why we put our trust (faith) in him and follow him on his way.  Peter tells that our faith in Jesus determines how much it means to have Jesus as our “living stone” and as the “precious cornerstone” on which we continue to build the Church, as we follow his way.