A reflection on the Gospel for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, by Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB

In our Gospel today we see Jesus trying to encourage his disciples, reminding them that there are "many rooms in my father's house" (John 14:2). I'm reminded of a very pious and holy nun I met on a Retreat; during the week it became obvious that the Sister Superior of this convent was VERY strict. As the week came to an end, the holy Sister informed me that 'MANY rooms' was her favourite part of the Gospel as it gave her hope for heaven: she prayed that she would be in a different room to the Superior! I love this wisdom saying of Jesus as it points to his adaptability; the Church recognises DIVERSITY and we thank God for the differences that exist in the Church. One size does not fit all: Jesus welcomes all to follow him; it is an unconditional welcome and we do not have any right to limit his love.

Jesus is pointing beyond the here and now to the glory of God's Reign; he encourages his disciples to follow along the WAY. However, Thomas, noted for being the DOUBTER, is actually being HONEST here when he asks: "we do not know WHERE you are going, so how can we know the WAY?" (John 14: 5). Jesus wants to share with them a glory that Thomas certainly is not ready for-I suspect the same applies to us as followers of Jesus in 2020, especially in these strange times.

In this age of the GPS, even on on our mobile phones, the claim is we can never get lost as we will always be shown the WAY! However, in this age of lockdown and physical distancing, there is a danger of thinking that we have lost our way, as a society. All the usual 'normals' in our life have been taken from us; those reference points in life, be it the commute to work or the Friday night out, are no longer there. As one friend told me, "everyday is the same-actually, what day is it?" Those who are going out to work are our modern heroes as they put themselves in danger everyday as the virus could strike any of them-yet they still go out to help and show that society still cares. The is the WAY we can never loose.We need to give thanks for all those technological geniuses who have set up the 'virtual Church Community'; through the wonder of the internet we don't have to loose our way. We ARE connected and this new way of being Church will help us when all this is over; in the new normal, we can still look out for the vulnerable in our local community; we can still send out the positive and supportive memes on our Facebook pages; we can continue to see who the real heroes are in society, as the Thursday night clap has shown.

As a Church we have seen deep darkness and despair: in a concrete spirit of hope, Jesus not only invites us to follow his WAY of love, but offers us his TRUTH and the glory and LIFE of Resurrection. As our government promises us that there is light at the end of the tunnel, we will continue to follow the expert advice to protect the vulnerable. This is how Jesus is Inviting us to follow his way, truth and life in Eastertide 2020. We all have a part to play in following that truth, along a way of mutual love that achieves Gospel life. Let's try it this coming week-we will be amazed!

"Mother Church closes her door in the face of no one, no one! Not even to the greatest sinner, to no one. This is through the power, through the grace of the Holy Spirit." ( Pope Francis Pentecost Sunday 2015)

Fr Gerry SDB