Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.”

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. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do

Jesus tells us today that we will do all of these things and more in his name. How on earth is this possible. How can we as mere humans do more and even greater miracles than Jesus? We do not have super powers, we are not Gods. But Jesus said it is so, so we must sit up and pay attention. The answer, I believe, is found in the second part of this reading, he said “whatever you ask in my name I will do” this is how this is possible, we will do our miracles by joining our will with His, and through the power and mercy of God they will become manifest in the world.

There is a need for a little background here. When God made Adam and Eve, he bestowed on Adam the roles of priest prophet and king, and these roles were meant to be passed down from generation to generation to every family, and acting within these roles, the head of household of every family, would preside over his household as priest prophet and king. This tradition persisted for centuries, through Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and would eventually end in the desert with Moses when 11 of the tribes of Israel were seduced into worshipping the golden calf. Consequently, God removed the universal priesthood from the jews, and gave it solely to the Levites. The kingship to the line of Jewish kings, and the prophet would become specific people that God would call upon to speak for Him.

This would persist until the death and resurrection of Jesus. In His saving act of love, among other things He restored the roles of Priest, Prophet, and King to all of the faithful. In fact when we are baptized today we are bestowed the roles of priest prophet and king. So what does that have to do with today’s reading. Because the roles of priest prophet and king relate directly to the Jesus claim to be the way the truth and the life. This is because, as baptized christians, we are called to bring Jesus into are homes and our families, and communities. As priest we are to lead the way of Jesus to all those around us. As Prophet, we are to proclaim the truth, to any one that will listen. And as King we are to be the guardians of life and the incredible gift of life that God has given the whole world.

And when we understand these roles and embrace Jesus’ call to evangelization we will indeed do greater things than he did. We see in the acts of the apostles that even the shadow of Peter had the power to heal. This is not something that is special about Peter, but rather the lord using Peter as a vessel to bring forth His healing salvation. This too is our call. we need to be open to the lord and allow Him to work through us, to be his hands and his feet in this world, doing His will, not our own. If we succeed at this task then we will be the “bringers” of great miracles, and even more… But what could be greater than a miracle?

Some of the Church’s greatest theologians have insisted that the resurrection of Lazarus pales in comparison to the power of the confessional. St. Augustine wrote “The justification of the ungodly is something greater than the creation of heaven and earth, greater even than the creation of the angels.” Indeed what miracle could possibly be greater than helping a sinner become free of attachment to sin, and what could possibly be more important than helping a person walk out of hell, and enter into an eternity with God in heaven. In fact, the bible says that heaven and earth rejoice at the conversion of one sinner… and indeed, that is greater than a miracle.

Finally St. James said at the end of his Epistle: “My brothers, if anyone among you should stray from the truth and someone bring him back, he should know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” This is what we are here on this world to do. Whether it is raising our families, working in church ministry, or standing up for the truth in our workplaces and communities, we are called to save souls and slay error. Allow the lord to use your shadow to change peoples hearts, and convert their souls. There is no greater call, and there is no greater gift than to be a vessel of gods mercy and to be in the flow of gods grace as it works in this world.

Oh lord, help me to be your hands and feet in this world. Help me to help others to return to you, and reconcile their sin with you, and hopefully enter into the eternity of joy and happiness with you in heaven. amen.