Christ is the Way that leads to Truth and Life

 Fifth Sunday of Easter - Year A - May 3, 2026

 

Roman Rite

Acts 6: 1-7; Ps 33; 1 Peter 2:4-9; Jn 14:1-12

Ambrosian Rite

Acts 10:1-5.24.34-36.44-48a; Ps 65; Phil 2:12-16; Jn 14.21-24

 

 

1) Nothing shell upset you[1] .

     Four weeks have passed since the celebration of Easter; it was an Easter declined in a decidedly different tone. The time of the Easter period of this year 2026 is a time during which the various wars underway in the world, in particular those involving Ukraine and Russia, Iran and the USA, Lebanon, Israel and Gaza, force us to experience it as a dramatic but precious opportunity to reflect seriously on the meaning of life and the gift of faith, with which and for which every experience acquires better meaning and significance.

Then this question arises spontaneously: what path should we take to reflect and act and live this Easter season building peace? Following Christ who is the way, the truth and peace. St. Augustine states that “it was necessary for Jesus to say: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ (Jn 14:6), because once the way was known, the goal remained to be known” (Tractatus in Ioh., 69, 2: CCL 36, 500). The goal is the Father. For Christians, for each of us, the Way to the Father is to be guided by Jesus, by his word of Truth, and to welcome the gift of his Life. Let us make our own the invitation of St. Bonaventure: “Therefore open your eyes, stretch out your spiritual ear, open your lips and arrange your heart, that you may in all creatures see, hear, praise, love, venerate, glorify, honor your God” (Itinerarium mentis in Deum, I, 15).

            Following this invitation from St. Bonaventure, during Holy Week and opening the eyes of the heart we contemplated the pastoral charity of Christ, which manifested itself during the Last Supper with two gestures expressing the meaning of his life and death: the gesture of washing his feet –a sign of placing his life at the service of others – and that of giving Judas a morsel with which he reveals his love to the extreme.

     He gave himself to the one who betrayed him and delivered him to the cross for the sinners, for every one of us. The death on the Cross is the way Jesus opens the way to our Father. This is how Jesus reveals his glory of absolute love that gives itself unreservedly and without limits.

      The speech of Jesus, which the liturgy of this Sunday proposes to us (Jn 14, 1-12), opens with an invitation to overcome fear: "Do not let your heart be troubled. " It is a deep fear that has taken the hearts of the Apostles in the Cenacle: the fear of suffering, of death and of the future. Jesus suggests that there is only one way to overcome the many and deep fears that assail us. It is that of faith in God and faith in Him. He suffices, only God is the rock on which to build life, He alone is the safe haven. The other safeties disappoint. The love of God is faithful and never abandons us: this is the great certainty that comforts the believer.

     At Easter this certainty will dwell in the Apostles including St. Thomas.

     This Apostle, who was willing to believe only if he saw, in the picture of the Last Supper, was painted by Leonardo da Vinci with the finger up to the sky because that finger has indeed touched the sky. It has touched the concrete love of God who gives His life for him. In fact, in the Gospel of John, Thomas represents the transition from unbelief to faith as an experience of love in which to believe and to trust.

     This Apostle, who today is still scared and upset, asks the Messiah “Master, we do not know where you are going;how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, "I- Am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him. "(John 14: 5-7)

     The answer given by Jesus to Thomas will make him understand which is the way, but not immediately. Thomas now does not understand, he will understand when – meeting the Risen Jesus - he puts his finger in the holes of the divine pierced hands and sees which is the way, what is the truth, what is the life and indicates it to the others, including us.

     Jesus' answer to Thomas is first “I -Am" that is the name by which God revealed himself to Moses. In the Gospel of St. John, it is the way in which Jesus speaks of himself and says “I-Am" absolutely and " I-Am" with specifications. Today it gives the three basic "the Way, the Truth and the Life”.  At other times He said I- Am the Bread, I- Am the Shepherd, I-Am the door.

 

2) I- Am the way, the road to get home, to God, to the heart, to others.

     Last Sunday we meditated on Christ, who says of himself: "I Am the Door; I Am the Shepherd”, today he says about himself: “I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life. "

     First, Jesus Christ is the Way.

     What is the way? The road was almost always a reference to home: it is where you are when you leave home or when you come back. Jesus is the way because the Son, who was with the Father, came to us and returned to the Father showing us the way to our house, where we are at home.

     The whole earthly life of Jesus is a journey back to the Father. Therefore, he is the way. In Jewish tradition the way is the law that starts life, the life of God. The new law is Jesus the Son, but the law of the Son is no longer something or someone that ties; his is the law of freedom: the freedom of the Son, who is the way because he is the truth that sets us free. It is freedom that freely can give life as an offer of communion.

      Only Christ is the way to the realization of the deepest desires of the human heart, and Christ does not save us despite our humanity, but through it, considering also our fear and our uneasiness. And, while recognizing that our life is a struggle, he teaches us that life is a battle for the good, for the truth known not with the mind but met in Christ who embraces us from the Cross, feeds us with the Eucharist, and forgives us in the sacrament of Confession. He does not say to each of us: “Strive to seek the way to reach the truth and the life; you have not been told this. Lazy, get up! The way itself is coming to you and shook you from sleep; and if it is able to shake you, get up and walk! “(St. Augustine of Hippo) He is the way of love accomplished, He is the way of washing the feet, He  is the way of the morsel given to Judah,  He is the way of  the gift, He  is the way of forgiveness, He  is the only way, that one of love that makes us be with him and like him .

     Secondly, Jesus says: I-Am the truth. He is the Way because He is the truth that makes us free and allows us to live. The truth is that God is our Father and we are his children in the Son. Jesus revealed the Father as love and freedom and absolute gift to the Son. This is the truth.

     Our truth is the truth of God who is our Father and loves us so infinitely to give His Son for us. This makes us understand our infinite dignity. Then Jesus is the truth and reveals to us the great dignity of God and of man. How has He revealed this truth? Becoming our brother. And that is why He is life.

     Finally, let us ask ourselves: "What is Life?” It is the love between the Father and the Son; it is the life of God. Let also ask ourselves what is a living man? It is the one that knows how to love and to give life. And Jesus gave us life, the life of God; He has given us the love of God as our life.

     Only with the encounter with the risen Christ the disciples understood that He Is the way, and that his offered love is the way, that his love Is the "embodied truth " (Florenski), that his love Is the life.

     Why does Jesus say these words at the Last Supper? To make it clear to his disciples that they should not be distressed by the fact that he leaves and goes away dying infamously. Just going away, He becomes the way, the truth and the life and gives meaning to our journey because we all walk and we'll go away. However, our leave and our return home will be in the way of truth and life.

     The Truth that is Christ unites us to the life of love of God, who welcomes us as a merciful Father.

     One way to follow the Way is offered to us by the consecrated Virgins. These women walk the path of holiness, keeping their eyes fixed on Jesus and putting themselves at the service of the Church and of the world as in the model proposed for the homily in the rite of the Roman Pontifical Consecration of Virgins. The Bishop says: "Remember that you are connected to the service of the Church and the brethren: therefore, exercising your apostolate in the Church and in the world, in the spiritual and material order, let your light shine before men that they may glorify our Father who is in heaven, and his plan of unite all things in Christ be fulfilled " (RCV, n 29).

     The virginal consecration grows in these women a constant attitude of discipleship to Christ, Shepherd and Spouse. It grows also confidence in the world, in humanity and a way of listening to history as well as to human problems. These women, by habits of work and life, are united to every man and woman for whom they become traveling companions, mean of communion and witness of love. Even when, during their existence, the consecrated Virgins go through suffering, illness and inactivity, they experience and witness the union with the Lord.  They participate in the creative work of God through the work that allows them to provide for themselves and to be open to the sharing of goods.

 

                                                                     THEOLOGICAL READING

 

                                                                     From “Exposition of John"

                                         St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church (Chapter 14 , lect . 2 )

 

The way, as has been said, is Christ himself; so he says, I am the way. This is indeed true, for it is through him that we have access to the Father. Because this way is not separated from its destination but united to it, he adds, and the truth, and the life. So Christ is at once both the way and the destination. He is the way by reason of his human nature and the destination because of his divinity. Therefore, as human, he says, I am the way; as God, he adds, and the truth, and the life. These last two appropriately indicate the destination of the way. For the destination of this way is the end of human desire. Now human beings especially desire two things: first a knowledge of the truth, and this is characteristic of them; secondly, that they continue to exist, and this is common to all things. In fact, Christ is the way to arrive at the knowledge of the truth, while still being the truth itself: "Teach me thy way O Lord that I may walk in thy truth" (Ps 85:11). Christ is also the way to arrive at life, while still being life itself: "Thou couldst show me the path of life" (Ps 16:11). And so he indicated the destination or end of this way as truth and life. These two were already applied to Christ: first, he is life: "In him was life" (1:4); then, he is truth, because "the life is the light of men" (1:45), and light is truth.

If you ask where to go, cling to Christ, for he is the truth which we desire to reach: "My mouth will utter truth" (Prv 8:7). If you ask where to remain, remain in Christ because he is the life: "He who finds me finds life and shall have salvation from the Lord" [Prv 8:35]

If then, you ask which way to go, accept Christ, for he is the way: "This is the way, walk in it" (Is 30:21). And Augustine says: "Walk like this human being and you will come to God. It is better to limp along on the way than to walk briskly off the way." For one who limps on the way, even though he makes just a little progress, is approaching his destination; but if one walks off the way, the faster he goes the further he gets from his destination.

 Therefore, cling to Christ if you wish to be secure, for you cannot get off the road because he is the way. And so those who hold on to him are not walking off the road but on the right road. Again, those who hold on to Christ cannot be deceived, because he is the truth and teaches all truth: "For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth" (18:37). Further, they cannot be troubled, because he is the life and the giver of life: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

---

[1] Let’s think of and let’s recite often this beautiful prayer of St. Teresa of Avila: " Let nothing disturb you, 
Let nothing frighten you, all things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices! Your desire is to see God; your fear to lose Him; your pain not to own Him; your joy may be what can bring you to Him and you will live in a great Peace. "

Le Christ est la Vie qui conduit à la Verité et à la Vie

Vème  Dimanche de Pâques - Année A – 3 mai 2026

 

 

Rite Romain

Ac 6, 1-7; Ps 32; 1 P 2,4-9; Jn 14,1-12

 

Rite Ambrosien

Act 10,1-5.24.34-36.44-48a; Ps 65; Phil 2,12-16; Jn 14,21-24]

 

1) Que rien ne vous trouble [1]

Quatre semaines se sont écoulées depuis Pâques, une Pâques marquée par une atmosphère bien différente. Ce temps pascal de 2026 est une période où les différents conflits qui font rage à travers le monde, notamment ceux impliquant l'Ukraine et la Russie, l'Iran et les États-Unis, le Liban, Israël et Gaza, nous obligent à le vivre comme une occasion à la fois dramatique et précieuse de réfléchir profondément au sens de la vie et au don de la foi, grâce auquel chaque expérience acquiert une signification et une profondeur accrues.Dès lors, une question se pose spontanément : quel chemin devons-nous emprunter pour réfléchir, agir et vivre ce temps pascal en œuvrant pour la paix ? En suivant le Christ, qui est le chemin, la vérité et la paix. Saint Augustin affirme qu’« il était nécessaire que Jésus dise : “Je suis le chemin, la vérité et la vie” (Jn 14, 6), car une fois le chemin connu, la destination restait à découvrir » (Tractatus in Joh., 69, 2 : CCL 36, 500), et cette destination est le Père. Pour les chrétiens, pour chacun de nous, le chemin vers le Père consiste donc à se laisser guider par Jésus, par sa Parole de Vérité, et à accueillir le don de sa Vie. Faisons nôtre l’invitation de saint Bonaventure : « Ouvrez donc les yeux, tendez l’oreille spirituelle, ouvrez les lèvres et préparez votre cœur, afin que dans toutes les créatures vous puissiez voir, entendre, louer, aimer, vénérer, glorifier et honorer votre Dieu » (Itinerarium mentis in Deum, I, 15).

Durant la Semaine Sainte nous avons contemplé la charité pastorale du Christ, qui s’est manifestée durant la Cène par deux gestes qui expriment le sens de sa vie et de sa mort: le lavement des pieds – signe que l’on met sa vie au service des autres – et la bouchée qu’il donne à Judas, révélant un amour débordant.

            Jésus se donne à qui le trahit et se livre à la Croix pour les hommes pécheurs, pour tous, pour chacun de nous. C’est en mourant sur la Croix qu’il nous ouvre le chemin vers notre Père, qu’il nous révèle sa gloire  d’amour absolu, donné sans réserve, sans limites.

            Le discours de Jésus, proposé dans la liturgie de ce dimanche (Jn 14,1-12) commence  par une invitation à surmonter la peur : « Ne soyez donc pas bouleversés ». La peur qui s’est emparée du cœur des Apôtres, au Cénacle, est une peur profonde: celle de la souffrance, de la mort, de l’avenir.  Pour vaincre les nombreuses et profondes peurs qui nous assaillent, il n’y a qu’un seul moyen, suggéré par Jésus : avoir foi en Dieu et foi en Lui : Lui seul suffit, Dieu seul est la roche sur laquelle construire sa vie, Lui seul est un refuge sûr. Les autres sécurités déçoivent. L’amour de Dieu est fidèle et ne nous abandonne jamais : cette grande certitude réconforte le croyant.

            A Pâques, celle-ci fera prise sur les Apôtres, y compris sur Saint Thomas, complètement.

            Léonard da Vinci, dans son tableau illustrant la Cène du Seigneur,  dépeint l’apôtre, disposé à ne croire que ce qu’il voit, le doigt en l’air pointé vers le ciel, car ce doigt a vraiment touché le ciel, il a touché l’amour concret de Dieu qui donne sa vie pour lui. En effet, dans l’Evangile de Jean, Thomas représente le passage de l’incrédulité à la foi comme expérience d’amour à laquelle croire et en laquelle avoir confiance.

                Cet apôtre, encore aujourd’hui apeuré et troublé, demande au Messie: « Seigneur, nous ne savons pas où tu vas. Comment pourrions-nous savoir le chemin ?  “Jésus lui répond : « Moi, je suis le Chemin, la Vérité et la Vie ; personne ne va vers le Père sans passer par moi Puisque vous me connaissez, vous connaîtrez aussi mon Père. Dès maintenant vous le connaissez, et vous l’avez vu. » (Jn 14. 5-7)

            La réponse que Jésus donne à Thomas lui fera comprendre quel est ce chemin, mais pas tout de suite. Thomas ne comprend pas, il comprendra quand – en rencontrant Jésus Ressuscité – il mettra le doigt dans les trous des mains divines transpercées, et verra quel est ce chemin, quelle est la vérité, quelle est la vie et il l’indiquera aux autres, nous compris.

            La réponse de Jésus à Thomas est avant tout «  Je Suis », qui est le nom que Dieu donne en se révélant à Moïse. Dans l’Évangile de saint Jean c’est ainsi que Jésus parle de lui-même. Il dit « Je-Suis » de manière absolue et « Je suis » en spécifiant. Aujourd’hui il détermine les trois spécifications fondamentales « Le Chemin, la Vérité et la Vie », ailleurs il a dit Je-Suis le Pain, Je-Suis le pasteur, Je-Suis la porte.

2) Je-Suis le chemin, la route pour arriver à la maison, à Dieu, au cœur, aux autres

            Dimanche dernier nous avons médité sur le Christ disant de lui: «  JE SUIS la Porte; JE SUIS le Pasteur », aujourd’hui Il dit de Lui : «  JE SUIS le Chemin, la Vérité et la Vie ».

            Tout d’abord le Chemin c’est Lui, Jésus Christ.

            Qu’est-ce que le chemin ? Le chemin se réfère presque toujours à son chez soi, la maison : c’est là où tu es en train de partir de chez toi ou en train  de revenir chez toi. Jésus est le chemin parce que le Fils, qui était aux côtés du Père, est venu vers nous puis est retourné au Père et nous a montré le chemin de notre maison, c’est-à-dire là où nous sommes chez nous.

            Toute l’existence de Jésus sur terre est un cheminement pour retourner au Père, donc Il est le chemin et dans la tradition juive le chemin c’est la loi, qui donne le coup d’envoi à la vie, à la vie de Dieu. Jésus est la nouvelle loi, mais la loi du Fils n’est plus quelque chose ou quelqu’un qui lie, elle est la loi de la liberté: la liberté du Fils, qui est le chemin de vérité qui rend libres, une liberté qui sait donner librement la vie comme offrande de communion.

            Seul le Christ est le chemin qui conduit à la réalisation des désirs les plus profonds du cœur de l’homme, et le Christ ne nous sauve pas en dépit de notre humanité, mais à travers elle, en tenant compte aussi de notre peur et de notre trouble. Et tout en reconnaissant que notre vie est un drame, il nous enseigne que celle-ci, la vie, est une lutte pour le bien, pour la vérité, non seulement connue par l’esprit mais rencontrée en Jésus Christ qui nous étreint dans les bras de sa Croix, nous nourrit avec l’Eucharistie, nous pardonne avec la Confession. Il ne dit pas à chacun de nous: « Efforce-toi de chercher le chemin qui conduit à la vérité et à la vie ; non, on ne te dit pas cela. Lève-toi, paresseux, le chemin en personne est venu te trouver. Il te réveille de ton sommeil, si toutefois tu étends sa voix quand il te dit ‘lève-toi et marche’ ! » (Saint Augustin d’Hippone). Il est le chemin de l’amour accompli, le chemin du lavement des pieds, le chemin de la bouchée donnée à Judas, le chemin du don, le chemin du pardon, l’unique chemin, celui de l’amour qui nous fait être avec Lui et comme Lui.

            Puis Jésus dit : Je-Suis la vérité. Il est le chemin parce qu’Il est la vérité qui permet de vivre et rend libres. La vérité c’est que Dieu est Père et nous, nous sommes ses enfants dans le Fils. Jésus nous a révélé le Père comme amour et liberté, comme don absolu au Fils, voilà quelle est cette vérité.

            Et notre vérité est la vérité même de Dieu qui est Père et m’aime infiniment jusqu’à donner son Fils pour moi. Cela nous fait comprendre notre dignité infinie, donc Jésus est la fois la vérité de Dieu et celle de l’homme, il nous révèle la grande dignité. Et comment nous l’a-t-il révélée cette dignité ? En faisant de Lui notre frère. Et c’est pourquoi il est la vie.

            Demandons-nous enfin: « Qu’est-ce que la Vie ? » C’est l’amour entre le Père et le Fils, c’est la vie de Dieu. Demandons-nous aussi qu’est-ce que l’homme vivant ? C’est quelqu’un qui sait aimer et donner la vie. Et Jésus nous a donné la vie, la vie de Dieu, il nous a donné l’amour de Dieu comme notre vie.

            Seulement après avoir rencontré le Christ ressuscité, les disciples ont compris qu’Il Est le chemin, que son amour offert est le chemin, que Son amour EST « la vérité incarnée » (Florenski), que Son amour EST la vie.

            Mais pourquoi Jésus dit-il ces  paroles durant la dernière Cène ? Pour faire comprendre aux disciples qu’ils ne doivent pas se laisser troubler par le fait qu’il  s’en va et qu’il s’en va en mourant comme un infâme. C’est justement en s’en allant qu’il devient le chemin, la vérité et la vie, et donne un sens à tout notre cheminement , car nous marchons tous et nous nous en irons, mais notre départ, notre retour à la Maison sera sur le chemin de la vérité et de la vie.

            La Vérité qui est en Jésus Christ nous unit à la vie d’Amour de Dieu, qui nous accueille avec le Père miséricordieux.

            Un chemin pour suivre le Chemin nous est offert par les Vierges consacrées dans le monde. Ces femmes parcourent le chemin de la sainteté, en tenant leurs yeux fixés sur Jésus et se mettant au service de l’Eglise et du monde comme dans le modèle d’homélie proposé par le Pontificale Romano dans le titre de consécration des vierges. L’évêque exhorte « Rappelez-vous que vous êtes liées au service de l’Eglise et des frères: alors, en exerçant votre apostolat dans l’Eglise et dans le monde, dans l’ordre spirituel et matériel, que votre lumière resplendisse devant les hommes, pour la gloire de votre Père dans les cieux et la réalisation de son dessein de réunir en Jésus Christ toutes les choses » (RCV, n 29).

            La consécration virginale développe chez ces femmes une attitude à suivre constamment le Christ, Pasteur et Epoux, et une attitude de confiance envers le monde, envers l’humanité, un style d’écoute par rapport à l’histoire et aux problématiques humaines, qu’elles associent, par habitudes de travail et de vie, à chaque homme et chaque femme, devenant pour eux une compagne de voyage, instrument de communion et témoin d’amour. Même quand, au cours de leur existence, elles traversent la souffrance, la maladie, l’inactivité, elles expérimentent et témoignent de leur union avec le Seigneur. Elles participent à l’œuvre créatrice de Dieu par le travail qui leur permet de pourvoir à leurs besoins et de s’ouvrir au partage des biens.       

 

LECTURE THEOLOGIQUE : Extrait du « Commentaire sur Jean »

De saint Thomas d’Aquin, docteur de l’Eglise   (Ch. 14, lect. 2)

Le chemin pour arriver à la vraie vérité

Le chemin, c’est le Christ lui-même, et c’est pourquoi il dit : « Moi, je suis le chemin ». Cela se comprend bien, puisque « par lui nous avons accès auprès du Père » Mais parce que ce chemin n’est pas éloigné du terme, parce qu’il y est joint, au contraire, Jésus ajoute : La vérité et la vie ; et c’est ainsi que lui-même est à la fois le chemin et le terme. Le chemin en tant qu’homme : Moi je suis le chemin ; en tant que Dieu, il ajoute :la vérité et la vie. Ces deux derniers mots désignent parfaitement le terme du chemin. Car le terme de ce chemin, c’est la fin que recherche le désir humain. Or, l’homme désire principalement deux choses : d’abord la connaissance de la vérité, ce qui lui est propre ; ensuite la continuation de son existence, ce qui est commun à tous les êtres. Or, le Christ est le chemin pour parvenir à la connaissance de la vérité, alors pourtant qu’il est lui-même la vérité : « Conduis-moi, Seigneur, dans ta vérité, et j’entrerai sur ton chemin. Et le Christ est le chemin pour parvenir à la vie, alors pourtant qu’il est lui-même la vie : Tu m’as fait connaître les chemins de la vie.  C’est pourquoi il a désigné le terme de ce chemin par la vérité et la vie. L’une et l’autre, plus haut, ont été attribuées au Christ. D’abord, il est lui-même la vie : En lui était la vie ; ensuite, il est la vérité, puisqu’il était la lumière des hommes ; or la lumière, c’est la vérité. Si donc tu cherches par où passer, prends le Christ, puisque lui-même est le chemin : C’est le chemin, suivez-le. Et Augustin commente : « Marche en suivant l’homme et tu parviendras à Dieu ». Car il vaut mieux boiter sur le chemin que marcher à grands pas hors du chemin. Car celui qui boite sur le chemin, même s’il n’avance guère, se rapproche du terme ; mais celui qui marche hors du chemin, plus il court vaillamment, plus il s’éloigne du terme. Si tu cherches où aller, sois uni au Christ, parce qu’il est en personne la vérité à laquelle nous désirons parvenir: C’est la vérité que ma bouche proclame. Si tu cherches où demeurer, sois uni au Christ, parce qu’il est en personne la vie: Celui qui me trouvera, trouvera la vie, et il obtiendra du Seigneur le salut. Sois donc uni au Christ, si tu veux être en sûreté : tu ne pourras pas t’égarer puisque lui-même est le chemin. C’est pourquoi ceux qui sont unis à lui ne marchent pas dans un pays sans routes, mais par un chemin droit. En outre, le Christ ne peut pas se tromper, parce qu’il est lui-même la vérité et enseigne toute vérité. Il dit en effet : Je suis né, je suis venu pour ceci : rendre témoignage à la vérité.Enfin il ne peut être mis en échec, parce que c’est lui-même qui est la vie et qui donne la vie, ainsi qu’il le dit : Moi, je suis venu pour qu’ils aient la vie, pour qu’ils l’aient en abondance.

[1] Pensons et récitons souvent cette belle, et profonde prière de Sainte Thérèse de l’Avila: « Que rien ne te trouble, que rien ne t’épouvante, Tout passe, Dieu ne change pas. La patience triomphe de tout. Celui qui possède Dieu ne manque de rien: Dieu seul suffit ! Que ton désir soit de voir Dieu, ta crainte, de le perdre, ta douleur, ne pas le posséder; que ta joie puisse t’amener vers Lui et tu vivras dans une grande paix ».

 

Cristo è la Via che conduce alla Verità ed alla Vita

V Domenica di Pasqua – Anno A – 3 maggio 2026

 

Rito Romano 

At 6, 1-7; Sal 32; 1 Pt 2,4-9; Gv 14,1-12

 

Rito Ambrosiano 

At 10,1-5.24.34-36.44-48a; Sal 65; Fil 2,12-16; Gv 14,21-24

 

 

            1) Nulla vi turbi[1].

            Sono trascorse quattro settimane dalla celebrazione della Pasqua, una Pasqua declinata in tono decisamente diverso. È un tempo, quello del periodo pasquale di questt’anno 2026, durente il quale le varie guerre in corso nel mondo, in particolare quelle che coinvolgono l’Ucraina e la Russia, l’Iran e gli USA, il Libano, Israele e Gaza, che ci cosringono a viverlo come occasione drammatica ma preziosa per riflettere in modo serio sul senso della vita e sul dono della fede, con il quale e per il quale ogni esperienza riceve un senso ed un significato migliori.

Sorge allora spontenea la domanda: quale strada percorrere per ben rifletter ed agire e vivere questo tempo pasquale edificando la pace? Seguendo Cristo che è la via, la verità e la pace.Sant’Agostino afferma che “era necessario che Gesù dicesse: ‘Io sono la via, la verità e la vita’ (Gv 14,6), perché una volta conosciuta la via, restava da conoscere la meta” (Tractatus in Ioh., 69, 2: CCL 36, 500), e la meta è il Padre. Per i cristiani, per ciascuno di noi, dunque, la Via al Padre è lasciarsi guidare da Gesù, dalla sua parola di Verità, e accogliere il dono della sua Vita. Facciamo nostro l’invito di San Bonaventura: “Apri dunque gli occhi, tendi l’orecchio spirituale, apri le tue labbra e disponi il tuo cuore, perché tu possa in tutte le creature vedere, ascoltare, lodare, amare, venerare, glorificare, onorare il tuo Dio” (Itinerarium mentis in Deum, I, 15).

            Seguendo questo invito di San Bonaventura, durante la Settimana Santa, aprendo gli occhi del cuore, abbiamo contemplato la carità pastorale di Cristo, che si è manifestata durante l’ultima Cena con due gesti che esprimono il significato della sua vita e della sua morte: il gesto di lavare i piedi – segno del porre la sua vita al servizio degli altri – e quello di dare un boccone a Giuda, con il quale rivela il suo amore fino all’estremo.

            Lui dona se stesso a chi lo tradisce e si consegna alla Croce per gli uomini peccatori, per tutti, per ciascuno di noi. La morte in Croce è il modo con cui Gesù ci apre la via al Padre nostro. Proprio così Gesù rivela la sua gloria di amore assoluto che si dona senza riserve, senza limiti. 

            Il discorso di Gesù, che la Liturgia di questa domenica ci propone (Gv 14,1-12) si apre con un invito a superare la paura: “Non sia turbato il vostro cuore”. Si tratta di una paura profonda quella che ha preso il cuore degli Apostile nel Cenacolo: la paura della sofferenza, della morte, del futuro. Gesù suggerisce che c'è un solo modo per vincere le molte e profonde paure che ci assalgono: è quello della fede in Dio, ricco di misericordia: Lui solo basta, soltanto Dio è la roccia su uci costruire la vita, Lui soltanto è il rifugio sicuro. Le altre sicurezze deludono. L’amore di Dio è fedele e non ci abbandona mai: questa è la grande certezza che conforta il credente.

            A Pasqua questa certezza ha fatto presa completa sugli Apostoli compreso San Tommaso. 

            Questo Apostolo, che era disposto a credere solo se vedeva, nel quadro dell’Ultima Cena è dipinto da Leonardo da Vinci con il dito con il dito in alto verso il cielo, perché quel dito ha toccato davvero il cielo, ha toccato l’amore concreto di Dio che dà la vita per lui. In effetti, nel Vangelo di Giovanni, Tommaso rappresenta il passaggio dall’incredulità alla fede come esperienza d’amore, a cui credere e a cui affidarsi.

                  Questo Apostolo, che oggi è ancora impaurito e turbato, domanda al Messia: “Signore, io non so dove vai, come dici che possiamo conoscere la via?”.  “Gli rispose Gesù: “Io-Sono la via, la verità, la vita. Nessuno viene al Padre se non per mezzo di me. Se avete conosciuto me, anche il Padre mio conoscerete e da ora lo conoscete e l’avete visto” (Gv 14. 5-7)

            La risposta che Gesù dà a Tommaso gli farà capire qual è la via, ma non subito. Tommaso ora non capisce, capirà quando – incontrando Gesù Risorto – metterà il dito nei buchi delle mani divine trafitte e vedrà qual è la via, qual è la verità, quale è la vita e la indicherà agli altri, noi compresi. 

            La risposta di Gesù a Tommaso è prima di tutto “Io-Sono”, che è il nome con il quale Dio si è rivelato a Mosé. Nel Vangelo di San Giovanni è il modo con il quale Gesù parla di sé e dice “Io-Sono” in modo assoluto e “Io-Sono” con specificazioni. Oggi ne dà le tre fondamentali “Via, Verità e Vita”, altrove ha detto Io-Sono il Pane, Io-Sono il Pastore, Io-Sono la porta.

 

            2) Io-Sono la via, la strada per arrivare a casa, a Dio, al cuore, agli altri.

            Domenica scorsa abbiamo meditato su Cristo che dice di sé: “IO SONO la Porta; IO SONO il Pastore”, oggi Lui dice di sè: “IO SONO la Via, la Verità e la Vita”.

            In primo luogo Lui, Gesù Cristo è la Via. 

            Che cos’è la via? La via ha quasi sempre un riferimento con la casa: è dove sei andando via da casa o tornando verso casa, è quella la via. Gesù è la via perché il Figlio, che era presso il Padre è venuto verso di noi ed è tornato al Padre e ci ha fatto vedere la via di casa nostra, cioè dove stiamo di casa. 

            Tutta l’esistenza terrena di Gesù è un cammino di ritorno al Padre, quindi lui è la via e nella tradizione ebraica la via è la legge, che dà il via alla vita, alla vita di Dio. La nuova legge è Gesù il Figlio, ma la legge del Figlio non è più qualcosa o qualcuno che lega, la sua è la legge della libertà: la libertà del Figlio, che è la via in quanto verità che rende liberi, libertà che sa dare liberamente la vita come offerta di comunione.

            Solo Cristo è la strada verso la realizzazione dei desideri più profondi del cuore dell’uomo, e  Cristo non ci salva a dispetto della nostra umanità, ma attraverso di essa, tenendo conto anche della nostra paura e del nostro turbamento. E mentre riconosce che la nostra vita è un dramma, ci insegna che essa, la vita, è lotta per il bene, per la verità non conosciuta solo con la mente ma incontrata in Cristo che ci abbraccia dalla Croce, ci nutre con l’Eucaristia, ci perdona con la Confessione. Lui non dice a ciascuno di noi: “Sforzati di cercare la via per giungere alla verità e alla vita; non ti è stato detto questo. Pigro, alzati! La via stessa è venuta a te e ti ha scosso dal sonno; e se è riuscita a scuoterti, alzati e cammina!” (Sant'Agostino d’Ippona). Lui è la via dell’amore compiuto, è la via del lavare i piedi, è la via del boccone dato a Giuda, è la via del dono, è la via del perdono, è l’unica via, quella dell’amore che ci fa essere con lui e come lui.

            In secondo luogo Gesù dice: Io-Sono la verità. Lui è la via perché è la verità che permette di vivere e rende liberi. La verità è che Dio è Padre e noi siamo suoi figli nel Figlio. Gesù ci ha rivelato il Padre come amore e libertà e dono assoluto al Figlio, questa è la verità. 

            E la verità nostra è la verità stessa di Dio che è Padre e mi ama infinitamente fino a dare suo Figlio per me. Questo ci fa capire la nostra dignità infinita, quindi Gesù è la verità e di Dio e dell’uomo, ci rivela la grande dignità. E come ce l’ha rivelata questa verità? Facendosi nostro fratello. Ed è per questo che è la vita. 

            Domandiamoci infine: “Che cos’è la Vita?” È l’amore tra Padre e Figlio, è la vita di Dio. Domandiamoci anche cos’è l’uomo vivo? È uno che sa amare e dare la vita. E Gesù ci ha donato la vita, la vita di Dio, ci ha donato l’amore di Dio come nostra vita.

            Solamente con l’incontro con Cristo risorto i discepoli hanno capito che Lui E’  la via, che il Suo amore offerto è la via, che il Suo amore E’ “la verità incarnata” (Florenski), che il Suo amore E’ la vita.

            Ma perché Gesù dice queste parole durante l’ultima Cena? Per far capire ai discepoli che non si turbino per il fatto che lui se ne va e se ne va morendo da infame. Proprio andandosene diventa la via, la verità e la vita e dà significato a tutto il nostro cammino nel suo andarsene, perché tutti camminiamo e ce ne andremo, ma il nostro andarcene, in nostro tornare a Casa sarà nella via della verità e della vita.

            La Verità che è Cristo ci unisce alla vita d’Amore di Dio, che ci accoglie con Padre misericordioso.

            Un via per seguire la Via ci è offerta dalle Vergini consacrate nel mondo. Queste donne percorrono la via della santità, tenendo fisso lo sguardo su Gesù e mettendo a servizio della Chiesa e del mondo come nel modello di omelia proposto dal Pontificale Romano nel rito di Consacrazione delle vergini, il Vescovo esorta: “Ricordatevi che siete legate al servizio della Chiesa e dei fratelli: perciò, esercitando il vostro apostolato nella Chiesa e nel mondo, nell'ordine spirituale e materiale, la vostra luce risplenda davanti agli uomini, perché sia glorificato il Padre vostro che è nei cieli e si compia il suo disegno di riunire in Cristo tutte le cose” (RCV, n 29). 

            La consacrazione verginale fa crescere in queste donne un atteggiamento di sequela costante a Cristo, Pastore e Sposo, e di fiducia nei confronti del mondo, dell’umanità e uno stile di ascolto della storia e delle problematiche umane congiungendola, per consuetudini di lavoro e di vita, ad ogni uomo e donna per cui si fa compagna di viaggio, strumento di comunione e testimone di amore. Anche quando nel corso della sua esistenza attraversa la sofferenza, la malattia, l’inattività, sperimenta e testimonia l’unione con il Signore. Partecipano all’opera creativa di Dio attraverso il lavoro che permette loro di provvedere al proprio sostentamento e di aprirsi alla condivisione dei beni.     

 

LETTURA TEOLOGICA

 

Dalla «Esposizione su Giovanni»

di san Tommaso d'Aquino, dottore della Chiesa  (Cap. 14, lect. 2)



 

La via per giungere alla vera vita


“La via è Cristo, e perciò dice: «Io sono la via» (Gv 14, 6). Il che è pienamente giustificato, infatti «per mezzo di lui possiamo presentarci al Padre» (Ef 2, 18).
E siccome questa via conduce alla meta, aggiunge: «Sono la verità e la vita»; e così egli è al tempo stesso via e meta. Via secondo l'umanità,
meta secondo la divinità. Dunque, in quanto uomo, dice: «Io sono la via»; in quanto Dio aggiunge: «la verità e la vita». Con queste due parole è indicato molto bene il traguardo di questa via.
Il punto d'arrivo di questa via infatti è la fine del desiderio umano. Ora l'uomo desidera due cose principalmente: in primo luogo quella conoscenza della verità che è propria della sua natura. In secondo luogo la permanenza nell'essere, proprietà questa comune a tutte le cose. In Cristo si trova l'una e l'altra. Egli è la via per arrivare alla conoscenza della verità, anzi è la stessa verità: Guidami, Signore, nella verità e camminerò nella tua via (cfr. Sal 85, 11).
Similmente egli è la via per giungere alla vita, anzi, egli stesso è la vita: «Mi hai fatto conoscere il sentiero della vita» (Sal 15, 11 volgata).
E perciò ha designato la fine di questa via come verità e vita. Entrambe sono state applicate a Cristo più sopra.
Innanzitutto egli è la vita: si dice infatti «in lui era la vita», e poi che egli è la verità, perché «era la luce degli uomini» (Gv 1, 4). E la luce è la verità. Se dunque cerchi per dove passare, accogli Cristo perché egli è la via: «Questa è la strada, percorretela» (Is 30, 219. Dice Agostino: «Cammina attraverso l'uomo e giungerai a Dio». E' meglio zoppicare sulla via, che camminare a forte andatura fuori strada. Chi zoppica sulla strada, anche se avanza poco, si avvicina tuttavia al termine. Chi invece cammina fuori strada, quanto più velocemente corre, tanto più si allontana dalla meta.
Se cerchi dove andare, segui Cristo, perché egli è la verità, alla quale desideriamo arrivare: «La mia bocca proclama la verità» (Pro 8, 7). Se cerchi dove fermarti, stai con Cristo, perché egli è la vita: Chi trova me, trova la vita e attingerà la salvezza dal Signore (cfr. Pro 8, 35).
Segui dunque Cristo se vuoi essere sicuro. Non potrai smarrirti, perché egli è la via. Perciò coloro che seguono lui non camminano per luoghi impraticabili, ma per la via giusta. Parimenti non può esservi errore, perché egli è la verità e insegna tutta la verità. Dice infatti: «Per questo io sono nato e per questo sono venuto al mondo, per rendere testimonianza alla verità» (Gv 18, 37). Infine non può esservi confusione, perché egli è la vita e dà la vita. Dice infatti: «Io sono venuto perché abbiano la vita e l'abbiano in abbondanza» (Gv 10, 10)”.

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[1] Si pensi e si reciti spesso questa bella, profonda preghiera di Santa Teresa d’Avila: “Nulla ti turbi, nullati spaventi, Tutto passa, solo Dio non cambia. La pazienza ottiene tutto. Chia ha Dio non manca di nulla: Solo Dio basta! Il tuo desiderio sia di vedere Dio, il tuo timore, perderlo, il tuodolore, non possederlo; la tua gioia sià ciò che può portarti verso di Lui e vivrai in una grande Pace”.

The Shepherd good as bread.

Fourth Easter Sunday - Year A – April 26, 2026

Roman Rite

Acts 2.14.36-41; Ps 23; 1Pt 2, 20-25; Jn 10: 1-10

Ambrosian Rite

Acts 6: 1-7; Ps134; Rm 10, 11-15; Jn 10: 11-18

1) The good Shepherd, who gives life by offering himself as the bread of Life.

“Pa” is the root of “bread as it is also the root of the Latin verb “pascere”( to attend). This offers the opportunity to reflect a little differently than usual on the topic of the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep, the Good Shepherd with a humble, gentle, merciful heart. The Good Shepherd who “tends” his sheep giving Himself: giving Himself as Bread and as Wine. Let also keep in mind the popular expression: “good as bread” with which someone is defined as particularly “tender” of heart, good in feelings, delicate in saying and doing. One to whom we can say everything, for good he is and good he remains; almost one to whom we can “do” everything, because the goodness of his heart is not affected. 

Perhaps without being fully aware of it, popular wisdom has coined an expression of great value, indeed an expression that “values the value” of bread, elevates it to the dignity of a good food par excellence. The expression does not simply say “tender” or “feeding’ but “good” like bread. The etymology of the word “good” is very interesting. According to some scholars it refers to “beo”: to make happy, while for other scholars it is linked to “rich” and “splendor”; for others to “virtuous” and “to purify”.

God is “good” like bread. God is the only one who makes us happy, He is the only one “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4), He is the Pure One who purifies us.

God has such a tender heart, so full of compassion (cf. Benedict XVI, First Vespers of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, June 19, 2009) to have made himself “Eucharistic Heart of bread” so that whoever feeds on Him may have eternal life (cf. Jn 6.54). Christ, the Son of God made flesh is the good Shepherd who “feeds”, nourishes his sheep, giving himself.

Let us not forget, however, that already in the Old Testament the figure of the shepherd is very important. Consider for example what, in the name of God, the prophet Ezekiel writes: “I will lead my sheep to pasture, and I will let them rest. Oracle of the Lord God. I will go in search of the lost sheep and bring the lost one back to the fold; I will bind up the wounded one and cure the sick one, I will take care of the fat and the strong; I will feed them with justice” (Ezek 34:15-16). We see the realization of this oracle in Christ, the good shepherd. Indeed, in the Gospel the shepherd is a sweet and touching figure and each of us would like to be the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7), which the Good Shepherd places on his shoulders, after he tenaciously seeks her. 

The figure of the Shepherd is important not only in the Bible. Even in today's Church this figure retains its charm and its effectiveness. What promised by God to his ancient people: “I will appoint for you shepherds after my own heart,” (Jer 3:15), is experienced today and daily by the Church, the new people of God. The Church knows that Jesus Christ himself is the living, supreme and definitive fulfillment of God's promise: "I am the Good Shepherd" (Jn 10:11). He, "the Great Shepherd of Sheep" (Acts 13:20), entrusted the apostles and their successors with the ministry to feed the flock of God (see Jn 21, 15ss; 1 Pt 5: 2). Thanks to the priests, the people of God can live that fundamental obedience that is at the very core of his existence and mission in history: obedience to Jesus' command: "Go and teach all the people" (Mt 28:19) and "Do this in memory of me" (Lk 22, 19; see 1 Cor 11:24), that is the command to announce the Gospel and to renew every day the sacrifice of his given body and of his blood shed for the life of the world.

So let us pray to the Lord to send good Shepherds for the world and let us ask from the shepherds of today to have Christ as a model. He is the Good Shepherd

because he offers his life for the sheep,

because he boldly exposes his life to defend his sheep,

because Christ loves his sheep and guides them to communion with Him.

The Shepherd's goodness is proved with the gift of self so that the sheep entrusted to him may live and have life in abundance, and because he knows his sheep. He knows them one by one with great love and with personal and continuous care. The sheep "feel” this and know their Pastor because he is good. "To know" is a verb that biblically is in the semantics of love: one knowns for love and only in love. Like a mother who - even at night and in the dark – “feels" that his baby is ill and gets up to cure her, so the child "feels" the mother who cares. True love is perfect knowledge.

On the example of the Good Shepherd, may the shepherds and the sheep live and grow in mutual belonging to grow in the belonging to Christ.

 

2) Belonging.

We are not at the mercy of dark forces or of an inexorable destiny: we belong to the Lord and we are known by Him, who for each of us has given his life and has risen. If we listen to his voice and if we believe in Him, we enter into the Lord's own life. Faith, in fact, is by no means one of the many possible concepts in the world. With it we make a decisive passage: the transition from death to life. "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life." (Jn 5:24). By faith, the human person abandons the region of death of his life and enters the land of the living.

The Church has always asked its shepherds to constantly meditate on this page: to reflect on it. Why? Every shepherd is simply a "sign" of the Shepherd. Let us meditate on this passage together and for a long time and let us try to revive it by living the communion among us so that our knowledge of Christ may deepen and our belonging to Christ grow.

In the Gospel of today, the relationship of each of us with the Risen Lord is firstly referred to as a relationship of “belonging”: the sheep do not belong to the mercenary, they belong to the shepherd. The experience of belonging is profound: for the human person it is what the roots are for a tree.

What does this belonging consist of? First, it is a relationship of mutual knowledge: "I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me" (Jn 10:14). This mutual knowledge is a great event if Jesus brings it back to the mutual knowledge that exists between him and the Father. What does it consist of? On our part, it consists in the consensual acceptance of the Word of Jesus ["they will listen to my voice"], persevering in it and letting us be penetrated by it. In short, "knowing Christ good shepherd" means adhering to Him and being guided by Him in our existence in a great and profound familiarity. Our knowledge of Jesus implies and presupposes Jesus’ knowledge of our person. Knowing and being known are realized as mutual belonging and being available to each other. This relationship of communion between Jesus and us, faithful ones, is set in motion by the gift He makes of His life: "and I have offered my life for the sheep." He proposes himself as Shepherd because he presents, disposes of and lays his life in favor of the sheep. That is, he agrees to be leader because he is the servant of all up to the point of giving his life to them, who in him find light and freedom.

 

3) The virgins and the shepherd.

By meditating on the words of Christ who presents himself as a shepherd, that is, as one who watches day and night to defend his lambs from mercenaries and thieves, we wonder if we can really penetrate into the heart of such a God and understand how He loves us. In Christ we see that it is not so much man who seeks God, but God who seeks man. Man is the passion and the drama of God who, to save him, descends from his Heaven to bring him back to it with Him.

How to respond to this infinite love that asks us to love with a love stronger than death? With acts of frequent love, reciting, for example, this "act of charity":

"My God,

I love you with all my heart above everything, because you are endless good and our eternal happiness.

For your love I love the neighbor as myself and forgive the offenses I’ve received.

Lord, may I love you above all things!”

            St. John of the Cross explains the act of love in this way: "The act of love for God is the simplest, easiest, shorter action that can be done. Just say with simplicity: 'My God, I love you'. It is easy to do an act of love for God. It can be done at any time, in every circumstance, in the midst of work, in the crowd, in any environment, in a moment. God is always present, listening, in affectionate expectation to seize this expression of love from the heart of his creature. The act of love is not an act of feeling: it is an act of high will, infinitely raised above sensitivity and also imperceptible to the senses. Just let the soul say with simplicity of heart: My God, I love you "(St. John of the Cross).

In this, as example to us, there are the consecrated Virgins who, with the total and exclusive gift to Christ collaborate with the Good Shepherd sharing his mission of guiding holiness by experiencing a love that does not end with death but is eternal in Paradise. Therefore, their service to the pastoral is not to do but to be, witnessing a belonging to Christ whose mission becomes their mission. First of all, they are called to communicate what they are: Brides of Christ. In this regard it is important to remember that their consecration rite provides the delivery of two "signs" – among four- that express their new consecrated state. The ring is used as a bridal symbol (it was done for the first time in the Roman-German Pontificate around the year 950). Then there is the Book of Prayer of the Church, a tradition already used in the nineteenth century and maintained today because, as the Second Vatican Council teaches, the Liturgy of the Hours must become the prayer of every Christian, who should pray in the name of the Church by using the Prayer of the Church. It is a spousal and ecclesial prayer, the cornerstones of which are the Bible, seen as the book of the bridegroom, the Eucharist, the "bridal sacrament, "and the Liturgy of the Hours, the "bride's voice for the groom".

 

Patristic Reading

Saint Augustin of Hyppo

Sermon 138

1). We have heard the Lord Jesus setting forth to us the office of a good shepherd. And herein He hath doubtless given us to know, as we may understand it, that there are good shepherds. And yet that the multitude of shepherds might not be understood in a wrong sense; He saith, “I am the good Shepherd.”1 And wherein He is the good Shepherd, He showeth in the words following; “The good Shepherd,” saith He, “layeth down His life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, seeth the wolf coming, and fleeth; because he careth not for the sheep, for he is an hireling.2 Christ then is the good Shepherd. What was Peter? was he not a good shepherd? Did not he too lay down his life for the sheep? What was Paul? what the rest of the Apostles? what the blessed Bishops, Martyrs, who followed close upon their times? What again our holy Cyprian? Were they not all good shepherds, not hirelings, of whom it is said, “Verily I say unto you, they have received their reward”?3 All these then were good shepherds, not simply for that they shed their blood, but that they shed it for the sheep.For not in pride, but in charity they shed it.

2. For even among the heretics, they who for their iniquities and errors have suffered any trouble, vaunt themselves in the name of martyrdom, that with this fair covering disguised4 they may plunder the more easily, for wolves they are. Now if ye would know in what rank they are to be held, hear that good shepherd, the Apostle Paul, that not all who even give up their bodies in suffering to the flames, are to be accounted to have shed their blood for the sheep, but rather against the sheep. “If,” saith he, “I speak with the tongues of men, and angels, but have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. If I should know all mysteries, and have all prophecy, and all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing.”5 Now a great thing truly is this faith that removes mountains. They are indeed all great things; but if I have them without charity, saith he, not they, but I am nothing. But up to this point he haft not touched them, who glory in sufferings under the false name of martyrdom. Hear how he toucheth, yea rather pierceth them through anti through. “If I should distribute,” saith he, “all my goods to the poor, and deliver my body to be burned.” Now here they are. But mark what follows; “but have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” Lo, they have come to suffering, come even to the shedding of blood, yea cometo the burning of the body; and yet it profiteth them nothing, because charity is lacking. Add charity, they all profit; take charity away, all the rest profit nothing.

3. What a good is this charity, Brethren! What more precious? what yieldeth greater light? or strength? or profit? or security? Many are the gifts of God, which even the wicked have, who shall say, “Lord, we have prophesied in Thy Name, in Thy Name have cast out devils, in Thy Name done many mighty works.”6 And He will not answer, “Ye have not done them.” For in the Presence of so great a Judge, they will not dare to lie or boast of things they have not done. But for that they had not charity, He answereth them all, “I know you not.” Now how can he have so much as the smallest charity, who when even7 convicted, loves not unity? It was then as impressing on good shepherds this unity, that our Lord was unwilling to mention many shepherds. For it is not, as I have said already, that Peter was not a good shepherd, and Paul, the rest of the Apostles, and the holy Bishops who were after them, and blessed Cyprian. All these were good shepherds; and notwithstanding to good shepherds, He commended not good shepherds, but a good Shepherd. “I,” saith He,” am the good Shepherd.”

4. Let us question the Lord with such little understanding as we have, and in most humble discourse hold converse with so great a Master. What sayest Thou, O Lord, Thou good Shepherd? For Thou art the good Shepherd, who art also the good Lamb; at once Pastor and Pasturage, at once Lamb and Lion. What sayest Thou? Let us give ear and aid us, that we may understand. “I,” saith He, “am the good Shepherd.” What is Peter? is he either not a shepherd, or a bad one? Let us see, if he be not a shepherd. “Lovest thou Me?”8 Thou saidst to Him Lord, “Lovest thou Me?” And he answered, “I do love Thee.” And Thou to him, “Feed My sheep.” Thou, Thou, Lord, by Thine Own questioning, by the strong assurance of Thine Own words, madest of the lover a shepherd. He is a shepherd then to whom Thou didst commit Thy sheep to be fed. Thou didst Thyself entrust them, he is a shepherd. Let us now see whether he be not a good one. This we find by the very question, and his answer. Thou didst ask, whether he loved Thee; he answered, “I do love Thee?” Thou sawest his heart, that he answered truth. Is he not then good, who Ioveth so great a Good? Whence that answer drawn front his inmost heart? Wherefore was this Peter, who had Thine eyes in his heart for witnesses, sad because Thou askedst him not once only, but a second and a third time, that by a threefold confession of love, he might efface the threefold sin of denial; wherefore, I say, being sad that he was asked repeatedly by. Him who knew what He was asking, and had given what He heard; wherefore being sad, did he return such an answer, “Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thyself knowest that I love Thee”? What! in making such a confession, such a profession rather, would he lie? In truth then, he made answer of his love to Thee, and from his inmost heart he gave utterance to a lover’s words. Now Thou hast said, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things”9 So then he is both a shepherd, and a good shepherd; nothing it is true to the power and goodness of the Shepherd of shepherds; but nevertheless even he is both a shepherd, and a good one; and all other such are good shepherds.

5. What means it then, that to good shepherds Thou dost set forth One Only Shepherd, but that in One Shepherd Thou teachest unity? and the Lord Himself explains this more clearly by my ministry, putting you, beloved, in remembrance by this Gospel, and saying, “Hear ye what I have set forth; I have said, ‘I am the good Shepherd ;’ because all the rest, all the good shepherds, are My members.” One Head, One Body, One Christ. So then both the Shepherd of shepherds, and the shepherds of the Shepherd, and the sheep with their shepherds under The Shepherd. What is all this, but what the Apostle says? “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.”10 Therefore if Christ be even so, with good reason doth Christ in Himself containing all good shepherds, set forth One, saying, “‘ I am the good Shepherd.’ ‘I am,’ I Alone am, all the rest with Me are one in unity. Whoso feedeth without Me, feedeth against Me. ‘He that gathereth not with Me, scattereth.’”11 Hear then this unity more forcibly set forth; “Other sheep,” saith He, “I have which are not of this fold.”12 For He was speaking to the first fold of the stock of the fleshly Israel. But there were others of the stock of the faith of this Israel, and they were yet without, were among the Gentiles, predestinated, not yet gathered in. These He knew who had predestinated them; He knew, who had come to redeem them with the shedding of His Own Blood. He saw them who did not yet see Him; He knew them who yet believed not on Him. “Other sheep,” saith He, “I have which are not of this fold;” because they are not of the stock of the flesh of Israel. But nevertheless they shall not be outside of this fold, “for them also I must bring, that there may be One Fold, and One Shepherd.”

6. With good reason then to This Shepherd of shepherds, doth His Beloved, His Spouse, His Fair One, but by Him made fair, before by sin deformed, beautiful afterward through pardon and grace, speak in her love and ardour after Him, and say to Him, “Where feedest Thou?”13 And observe how, by what transport this spiritual love is here animated. And far better are they by this transport delighted, who have tasted ought of the sweetness of this love. They hear this properly, who love Christ. For in them, and of them, doth the Church sing this in the Song of Songs; who love Christ, as it seemed without beauty, yet the Only Beautiful One. “For we saw Him,” it is said, “and He had neither beauty nor comeliness.”14 Such He appeared on the Cross, such when crowned with thorns did He exhibit Himself, disfigured, and without comeliness, as if He had lost His power, as if not the Son of God. Such seemed He to the blind. For it is in the person of the Jews that Isaiah said this, “We saw Him, and He had no beauty nor comeliness.” When it was said, “If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the Cross. He saved others, Himself He cannot save.”15 And smiting Him on the head with a reed, they said, “Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who smote Thee?”16 Because “He had neither beauty nor comeliness.” As such did ye Jews see Him. For” blindness hath happened in part to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles enter in,”17 until the other sheep come. Because then blindness hath happened, therefore did ye see the Comely One without comeliness. “For had ye known Him, ye would never have crucified the Lord of Glory.”18 But ye did it, because ye knew Him not. And yet He who as though without beauty bare with you, all Beauteous as He was, prayed for you; “Father,” saith He, “forgive them, for they know not what they do.”19 For if He were without comeliness, how is it that she loveth Him, who saith, “Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth”?20 How is it that she loveth Him? how is it that she burneth for Him? how is it that she feareth so much to stray from Him? How is it that she hath so great delight in Him, that her only punishment is to be without Him? What would there be for which He should be loved, if He were not beautiful? But how could she love Him so, if He appeared to her as He did to those blind men persecuting Him, and knowing not what they do? As what then did she love Him? As “comely in form above the sons of men. Comely in form above the sons of men, grace is poured abroad in Thy Lips.”21 So then from these Thy Lips, “Tell me, 0 Thou whom my soul Ioveth. Tell me,” says she, “O Thou whom,” not my flesh, but, “my soul loveth. Tell me where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down in the midday; lest haply I light, as one veiled, upon the flocks of Thy companions.”22

7. It seems obscure, obscure it is; for it is a mystery of the sacred marriage bed. For she says, “The King hath brought me into His chamber.”23 Of such a chamber is this a mystery. But ye who are not as profane kept off from this chamber, hear ye what ye are, and say with her, if with her ye love (and ye do love with her, if ye are in her); say all, and yet let one say, for unity saith; “Tell me, O Thou whom my soul Ioveth. For they had one soul to Godward, and one heart.24 Tell me where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down in the midday?” What does the midday25 signify? “Great heat, and great brightness.” So then, “make known to me who are Thy wise ones,” fervent in spirit, and brilliant in doctrine. “Make known to me Thy Right Hand, and men learned in heart, in wisdom.”26 To them may I cleave in Thy Body, to them be united, with them enjoy Thee. Tell me then, “tell me, where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down in the midday;” lest I fall upon them who say other things of Thee, entertain other sentiments of Thee; believe other things of Thee, preach other things of Thee; and have their own flocks, and are Thy companions; for that they live of Thy table, and handle the sacraments of Thy table. For companions are so called, because they eat together,27 messmates as it were. Such are reproved in the Psalm; “For if Mine enemy had spoken great things against Me, I would surely have hidden Myself from him; and if he that hated Me had spoken great things against Me, I would surely have hidden Myself from him; but thou a man of one mind with Me, My guide, and My familiar, who didst take sweet meats together with Me, in the house of God we walked with consent.”28 Why then now against the house of the Lord with dissent, but that “they have gone out from us, but they were not of us?29 Therefore, “O Thou whom my soul loveth,” that I may not fall upon such, Thy companions, but companions such as Samson’s were, who kept not faith with their friend, but wished to corrupt his wife.30 Therefore, that I may not fall upon such as these, “that I may not light upon them,” that is, fall upon them, “as one that is veiled,” as one that is concealed, that is, and obscure, not as established upon the mountain. “Tell me” then, “O thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down in the midday;” who are the wise and faithful in whom Thou dost specially rest, lest by chance as in blindness I fall upon the flocks, not Thy flocks, but the flocks of Thy companions. For thou didst not say to Peter, “Feed thy sheep,” but, “Feed My sheep.”31

8. Let then the “good Shepherd,” and, “the Comely in form above the sons of men,” make answer to this beloved one; make answer to her whom He hath made beautiful from among the children of men. Hear ye what He answereth, and understand, beware of that wherewith He alarmeth, love that which He adviseth. What then doth He answer? How free from soft caresses, yea, to her caresses He returneth severity! He is sharp that He may bind her closely, that He may keep her. “If thou know not thyself,” saith He, “0 thou fair one among women:”32 for however fair others may be by the gifts of thy Spouse, they are heresies, fair in outward ornament, not within:33 fair are they without, and outwardly they shine, they disguise themselves by the name of righteousness; “but all the beauty of the King’s daughter is within.”34 “If” then “thou know not thyself;” that thou art one, that thou art throughout all nations, that thou art chaste, that thou oughtest not to corrupt thyself with the disordered converse of evil companions. “If thou know not thyself,” that in uprightness, “he hath espoused thee to Me, to present you a chaste Virgin to Christ;”35 and that in uprightness thou shouldest present thine own self to Me, test by evil converse, “as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds too should be corrupted from my purity.”36 “If,” I say, “thou know not thyself” to be such, “go thy way; go thy way.” For to others I shall say, “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”37 To time I shall not say, “Enter in;” but, “Go thy way;” that thou mayest be among those, who “went out from us.” “Go thy way.” That is, “if thou know not thyself,” then, “go thy way.” But if thou know thyself, enter in. But, “if thou know not thyself, go thy way by the footsteps of the flocks, and feed thy kids in the tents of the shepherds. Go thy way by the footsteps,” not “of the Flock,” but, “of the flocks, and feed,” not as Peter, “My sheep,” but, “thy kids; in the tents,” not “of the Shepherd,” but, “of the shepherds;” not of unity, but of dissension; not established there, where there is One flock and One Shepherd. The beloved one was confirmed, edified, made stronger, prepared to die for her Spouse and to live with her Spouse

9. These words which I have quoted out of the Holy Song of Songs, of a kind of bridal song of the Bridegroom and the Bride (for it spiritual wedding, wherein we must live in great purity, for Christ hath granted to the Church in spirit that which His Mother had in body, to be at once a Mother and a Virgin); these words, I say, the Donatists accommodate to their own perverted sense in a very different meaning. And how I will not conceal from you, and what ye may answer them, I will, by the Lord’s help, as well as I shall be able, briefly recommend. When then we begin to press them with the light of the Church’s unity spread over the whole world, and demand of them to show us any testimony out of the Scriptures, where God hath foretold that the Church should be in Africa, as if all the rest of the nations were lost; they are in the habit of taking this testimony in their mouths, and saying; “Africa is under the midday sun; the Church then” they say, “asking the Lord where He feedeth, where He lieth down; He answereth, ‘Under the midday sun;’” as if the voice of her who put the question, were, “Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down;” and the Voice of Him who answereth, were, “Under the midday sun;” that is, in Africa. If then it be the Church which asketh, and the Lord maketh answer where he feedeth, in Africa, because the Church was in Africa; then she who asketh was not in Africa. “Tell me,” she saith, “O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down;” and He maketh answer to some Church out of Africa, “Under the midday sun,” in Africa I lie down, in Africa I feed, as if it were, “I do not feed in thee.” I repeat, if she who asketh is the Church, which no one disputes, which not even themselves gainsay; and they hear something about Africa; then she who asketh is out of Africa; and because it is the Church, the Church is out of Africa.

10. But see, I admit that Africa is under the midday sun; although Egypt is rather under the meridian, under the midday sun than Africa. Now after what fashion This Shepherd is there in Egypt, they who know, will acknowledge; and for them that know not, let them enquire how large a flock lie gathereth there, how great a multitude He hath of holy men and women who utterly despise the world. That flock hath so increased, that it hath expelled superstitions even thence. To pass over how it hath in its increase banished thence the whole superstition of idols, which had been firmly fixed there; I admit what you say, O evil companions; I admit it altogether, I agree that Africa is in the South, and that Africa is signified in that which is said, “Where feedest Thou, where dost Thou lie down under the midday sun?” But do ye too equally observe how that up to this point these are the words of the Bride, and not yet of the Bridegroom. Hitherto it is the Bride that saith, “Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou dost lie down in the midday, lest by chance I light, as one veiled.” O thou deaf, and blind one, if in the “midday” thou seest Africa, why in her that is “veiled” l dost thou not see the Bride? “Tell me,” she said, “O Thou whom my soul loveth.” Without doubt she addresses her Spouse, when she says, “whom” [in the masculine38 ]“my soul loveth.” Just as if it were said, “Tell me, O thou whom [in the feminine39 ], “my soul loveth;”we should understand that the Bridegroom spake these words to His Bride; so when you hear, “Tell me, O thou whom” (in the masculine) “my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou liest down;” add to this, to her words belongs also what follows, “In the midday.” I am asking, “where Thou feedest in the midday, lest by chance I light as one veiled upon the flocks of Thy companions.” I consent entirely, I admit what you understand of Africa; it is signified by “the midday” But then as you understand it, the Church of Christ beyond the sea is addressing her Spouse, in fear of falling into theAfrican error, “O Thou whom my soul, loveth, tell me,” teach me. For I hear that in the midday,” that is in Africa, there are two parties, yea rather many schisms.40 “Tell me,” then, “where Thou feedest,” what sheep belong to Thee, what fold Thou biddest me love there, whereunto ought I to unite myself. “Lest by chance I light as one veiled.” For they mock me as if I were concealed, they mock me as destroyed, as though I existed nowhere else. “Lest,” then, “as one veiled,” as if concealed, “I light upon the flocks,” that is, upon the congregarious of the heretics, “thy companions; the Donatists, the Maximinianists, the Rogatists and all the other pests who gather without, and who therefore scatter; “Tell me,” I pray Theeif I must seek my Shepherd there, that I fail not into the gulf of re-baptizing. I exhort you, I beseech you by the sanctity of such nuptials love this Church, be ye in this holy Church, be ye this Church; love the good Shepherd, theSpouse so fair, who deceiveth no one, who desireth no one to perish. Pray too for the scattered sheep; that they too may come, that theytoo may acknowledge Him, that they too may love Him; that there may be One Flock and One Shepherd. Let us turn to the Lord, etc

 

1 (Jn 10,11 
2 (Jn 10,12-13.
3 (Mt 6,2 Mt 6,4.
4 Dealbati.
5 (1Co 13,1 etc.
6 (Mt 7,22 
7 Referring it would seem to the conference held but a little while before this with the Donatist party at Carthage.
8 (Jn 21,15).
9 (Mt 12,35 
10 (1Co 12,12 
11 (Mt 12,30 
12 (Jn 10,16 
13 (Ct 1,7 Ct 1 
14 (Is 53,2 Sept.
15 (Mc 15,31 
16 (Mt 26,68 
17 (Rm 11,25 
18 (1Co 2,8 
19 (Lc 23,34).
20 (Ct 1,7 Ct 1 
21 (Ps 14,2.
22 (Ct 1,7 Sept.
23 (Ct 1,4 
24 (Ac 4,32 
25 It is not possible in English to preserve the same translation for the word meridies, which occurs throughout this passage in the two senses of the noon or midday, and the South).
26 (Ps 89,12 Sept. (xc. English version).
27 Sodales enim dicti sunt, quod simul edant, quasi simul edales.
28 (Ps 54,13 etc., Sept. (lv. 12-14, English version).
29 (1Jn 2,19 
30 (Jg 14.
31 (Jn 21,17 
32 (Ct 8 Sept.
33 Visceribus.
34 (Ps 45,13 
35 (2Co 11,2 
36 (2Co 11,3).
37 (Mt 25,21 
38 Quem.
39 Quam.
40 Concisiones).