Lord show us the Father and that will be enough!” This was the concern of Phillip in the Gospel and can be of many before a situation that is without solution, humanly speaking. Jesus in the fourth Gospel, speaking frequently of His relation with the Father of His union with Him, having been sent by Him. The disciples, now represented by Phillip, would like something more: a direct vision of the Father. And then responding, Jesus reveals Himself: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me!” His essence with the Father is the same. He is the eternal Son of God. In Him through Him and for Him, all things were created.

But this desire was in contradiction with that which already appears in the prologue of John: Never has anyone seen God. His Only Son, who is God and is in the Father, it was He who made him known (Jn 1:18) But the disciples we not able to recognize the visible presence in their Master the words and works of the Father because to see the Father in the Son, it is necessary to believe in the reciprocal union that exists between them both. Only through faith can the mutual imminence between Jesus and the Father. Therefore, the only thing that we have to request is faith, hoping confidently for this gift. Jesus appeals through faith, supports His teachings in two reasons: His personal authority, so many times experienced through disciples, and the witness of His works.

The work of Jesus, inaugurated through His mission of revealer, it is only a beginning. The disciples will continue His mission of Salvation. They will do works equal and even superior to His. Jesus wants even to give courage, His and all those that believe in Him, in order that they may become decisive participants in his own mission.

Jesus spoke much of the Father, Phillip became enthusiastic and asked Jesus to show him the Father. But the Lord responded: Whoever sees me, sees the Father.” Phillip would like to see the Father, but could not see him in Jesus. Upon contemplating the teacher, he remained in the external reality, not being able to touch the interior, his intimate reality, with the penetrating eye of faith. The word “to see” for John indicates two orders of realities: the visible sign and the glory of the Word.

“I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” Jesus is the revelations of love, of a generous love that wants to spread itself without limits, that does not have jealously: “whomever believes in me also will do the works that I do; and will do greater works than these.”

Pai, que eu saiba reconhecer-te na pessoa de Jesus, expressão consumada de teu amor misericordioso por todos os que desejam estar perto de Ti.

Father, that I may recognize you in the person of Jesus, the consummate expression of your merciful love for all those that desire to be near to You.

Father Bantu Mendonça

Fr. Bantu writes from the Diocese of Benguela, Angola.

translated from Portuguese