WHOEVER HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER

John 14:6-14

We celebrate the two Apostles Philip and James and in the line the gospel, we see in these holy men a spirit of great zeal to follow Jesus. Particularly this is clear in Philip earlier on when he introduced Nathanael, his friends to Christ. He said to Nathaniel, “Come and see.” In today’s gospel, Philip is making a request to Jesus: “show us the Father and we will be satisfied.” Philip wants to see God, to enter the holy of holies and contemplate the creator. All this is after Jesus has announced his departure it was the desire of the disciples to know where he was going.

In responding to Philip’s question, Jesus tells the disciples that they already know the Father. He says, "Have I been with you all this time and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” This response is also an important lesson for us. Jesus’ answer is still valid even today. Most of time in our lives we think God has abandoned us; and we ask ourselves: where is God in all this, why do things happen this way? But Jesus tell us that we should not think that God is far away from us, at an unknown distance. Anyone who wants to know who is God the Father, it suffices for him to look at Jesus. He has revealed him in the words and deeds of his life! “The Father is in me and I am in the Father!”

 Jesus is telling us that our access to God, our relationship with God does not come from seeing God and contemplate him as he is or by entering some heavenly holy of holies. Our most basic relationship with God is not confined in a particular location where God lives. We do not experience God’s presence in an isolated place from where we live day in and day out. Instead, Jesus entered in our lives so that we can see God the Father in him. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Jesus calls us for basic trust. He calls us to have confidence that he is really, faithfully and significantly revealing the Father to us in our places, in the people we meet, the tasks we do, and the relationships have in our lives. God is in our everyday life. Through the intercession of Saints Philip and James, may we come to see God in our daily lives.