In the Gospel of this Fifth Sunday of Easter, Jesus affirms that the disciples are from the place where he is headed. They know the way (cf. Jn 14:4). If the Father is the place where Jesus returns, the way is naturally that of love. But not just any love but a love like his, which has the form of self-giving and the measure of totality. The oblative self-giving form assumes the form of a servant as far as the cross; the measure of totality is the free gift that he makes of himself in death. But the disciples do not understand, and Thomas interprets the discomfort of the apostolic group when he claims he does not know where Jesus is headed and what the way is. Thomas essentially does not believe that love is stronger than death, that the path of dedication is winning. Luke also reflected a lot on the theme of the route. In Acts 9, he speaks to us of a way of fanaticism, frequented by Paul before meeting the Risen One; in Acts 8, the way is like a search, and starts from Jerusalem heading towards Gaza. Here we have Queen Candace’s eunuch looking in the scriptures to whom the mysterious Servant In Isaiah speaks; then there is the way of conversion, that of Jericho, in Lk 19, where Zacchaeus meets the Master of Nazareth, radically changing his life; finally, again in Luke, we find the road that goes from Jerusalem to Emmaus, on which two disillusioned and embittered disciples they will meet a mysterious fellow traveller whom they will recognize when they break bread. It is the way of disappointment that becomes the way of the profession of faith. But the way Jesus speaks to us about is himself. The way is in fact a person to follow; the truth – always in this horizon – is not a concept but a Man to attend to and get to know; life is not a mere biological fact, but God himself our native source and our happy ending.

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Santa Maria – Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey