Introduction
The See, Judge, Act method used in this and other Gospel Enquiries was developed by Cardinal Joseph Cardijn. He gave a series of lectures in 1949, which he titled “The young worker faces life.” His third lecture was about the “mystery of vocation.” I choose this lecture because it relates to the Gospel we are about to read.
Cardijn said to the YCW leaders who had gathered at Godinne, in Belgium,
“God calls everyone without exception … Unceasingly He goes on calling all people.” God’s call is to every person to know, love and serve God, here on earth and to be happy with God in heaven forever.
I memorised this statement when I was in primary school and I have carried it with me ever since as a prayer and as a reminder of my vocation, given to me when I was baptised.
When Cardijn addressed the YCW leaders in 1949, he said, “Witnesses to Christ are needed today in the whole of life, in all the aspects of life, in all the problems of life.” This truth of faith underpins what is often referred to as the lay apostolate: all lay people are called to give witness to Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life.
The Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house; if there were not, I should have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am
you may be too. You know the way to the place where I am going.’
Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’
Jesus said: ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.’
Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’
‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him ‘and you still do not know me? To have seen me is to have seen the Father, so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work. You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason. I tell you most solemnly,
whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself,
he will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.’ (John 14:1-12)
The Enquiry
See
Choose one thing that Jesus says to his disciples and let that be the focus of this enquiry. Imagine that Jesus addresses this to you. Put in your own words what you hear Jesus say to you.
Do you have any friends who do not follow Jesus, that is, they are not Christian, even though they are good people? How is your life different from theirs because of what you believe about Jesus and what he has just said to you?
If people can be good without following Jesus, why be bothered with Church and sacraments and practicing your faith?
Judge
What do you think about Philip’s statement to Jesus? And what do you think about Jesus’ response to him?
How do you interpret Jesus’ words: ‘I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, he will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.’ ? Is this something that you aspire to?
What does Jesus say that challenges you about how you live your faith?
Act
What was Jesus trying to achieve through having this conversation with his disciples? Is this the mission given to every baptised person?
What small action can you carry out to help Jesus achieve this goal?
Who can you involve in your action, when, where and how often?
Image Source: Sharon Tate Soberon (Creator), “Increase our FAITH!”, Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0
Worth reading: “The young worker faces life” can be found in Challenge to Action: Forming Leaders for Transformation, a collection of addresses given by Cardinal Joseph Cardijn. The collection was translated and compiled by Fr Eugene Langdale and his translation edited later by Dr Stefan Gigacz. The copy of Challenge to Action used in this Enquiry was published in 2020 by the Australian Cardijn Institute. The ePub version can be downloaded from here.