Jn. 14:1-12 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and 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.” Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.”
It is easy to think that God is absent in our life when an evil act occurs in our midst. Many claim that simply praying for someone is a passive affair. However, in John’s gospel of the farewell speech to his disciples, Jesus reminds us of his continued presence.
How can we do the works that Jesus did in a troubled world? When we have a solid relationship with Jesus who was sent by the Father to be the “way, the truth and the life” can we allow the Holy Spirit to enter our hearts to bring about change and action. Prayer leads us to action because it is an act of transformation rather than a passive affair.
Having the faith to get back up when we fall down or something tragic occurs is what is expected of us in the Christian life. The promise that we too will have a dwelling place prepared for us according to Jesus is something to recall on our earthly journey to prepare the way for His return. This dwelling place is not some far off distant heavenly paradise, but is our soul yearning for the Holy Spirit to make a home for us. We are a pilgrim people always on a journey seeking Christ Jesus in our midst to go out and be a disciple to those that need His love. Our duty to become saints by asking God to give us the grace to be a person that has lived a life of heroic virtue is our call.
What does an active prayer life look like? St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said it best: “My vocation is to belong to Jesus, to cleave to Jesus. The work is the fruit of my love and my love is expressed in my work. . . . Prayer in action is love in action.” (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/mother-teresa-love-in-action/#:~:text=Prayer%20in%20action%20is%20love,in%20every%20person%20they%20encountered.).
Prayer in action is love in action. A powerful statement that allowed the Holy Spirit to move Mother Teresa to do great acts of service. We too are called to be “missionaries of charity” heeding the call to go out and be a compassionate and gentle hand as a reminder to those that need us to be instruments of God’s love in the world.
St Teresa of Avila reminds us of our Christian mission with the following:
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours
Let our hearts not be troubled this day. Go out, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to be a light to others and remind them that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
StreetEvangelist 
