The Father and I Are One - Family Reflection Video

Today’s gospel takes place during another Jewish festival, the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple. Jesus is walking just outside of the temple in the Portico of Solomon, a long porch-like area that opened up into a large temple plaza. This is the setting where the Jews, most likely the religious leaders, confront Jesus. 

It is in this context that Jesus is asked the beginning of a question we’ve probably asked many times in our lives, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense?” 

As a child, you might have asked your parents a version of this question when you wanted to know if you could go with your friends to a game or concert. 

When you were older, you might have asked a friend this question when they told you they had some important news to share with you, but not just yet. 

That feeling of anxiety, and perhaps in the case of the Jewish people in the gospel, losing patience, prompts their question to Jesus. But it’s the second part of the question that really matters when they say, “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 

Jesus’ response is that He has told them, and yet they don’t believe Him. Why is this? Well, they’re trying to understand Jesus’ teaching and works on their terms and not His. 

Jesus tells us many things, too, and at times, we struggle to fully trust in His Word and in His speaking to us in prayer. We might even try to portray Jesus in our way of thinking, maybe picking and choosing, selectively His teachings. For example, highlighting Jesus’ teaching regarding justice without mercy or the reverse … and there are many other examples. 

So, to help, Jesus reminds us to look to His works, including those He’s done in our lives … and that He is not alone in His mission to save us and all of mankind. At the very end of the gospel, Jesus tells us that the Father and He are one. 

This comes after He’s told the Jewish people to look to the works He’s done in the Father’s name because they testify to His identity. 

Jesus wants them and us to understand that God the Father, though a separate person of the Trinity, and Jesus, the Son of God, are one … one in being and in mission. 

God the Father, in order to save mankind, sent His Son … who though divine, took on our human nature. God became one of us to help us become reunited with Him. 

The remedy for our separation from God was for the Son of God to come to us in a way that would pay the price for our sins and allow us to become one with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

The prophets predicted God, the Father, would send a Savior. But perhaps, like we at times, the Jewish people of that time found it hard to let go of their way of thinking about what salvation would look like. 

We have the benefit of over two thousand years of Church teaching and our ancestors testifying to Jesus’ identity and works, still we need to have faith that Jesus is our Savior … and that we His sheep will be protected. 

Let us pray today for the gift of faith in the Good Shepherd who comes to us at this Mass in the Word and the Eucharist, to teach, heal, and guide us to eternal life with the Father, one day in heaven.

• Today’s readings

• Father David's inspirational homily was recorded live this morning during Mass at the Father Peyton Center. Please view the video on our Facebook page. (You don't need a Facebook account to view.) 

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