Happy Mother's Day

by Fr. Jerome Cayetano  |  05/10/2026  |  The WORD in other words

In order for us to understand well and deeply this particular Gospel account, it is necessary and expedient to know the context where this particular passage is located in the whole Gospel. Where was Jesus? What was he doing? To whom is this particular passage is addressed? What were the circumstances or situations the disciples faced?

By the way, the Gospel of John is divided into two main parts, namely the Book of Signs and the Book of Glory. The Gospel account that we have heard, John 14:15-21, is part of the Gospel of Glory. It starts with Jesus at the Last Supper after he had washed the feet of his disciples, predicted the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter. It is part of the last discourse of Jesus, addressed to His disciples wherein Jesus is trying to lift up the spirit of His disciples, who are overwhelmed with grief and sadness because they couldn't believe that one of them would betray and deny him, and that Jesus is leaving them.

The first assurance of Jesus was: "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..." (Jn 14:1-2) "I am the way, the truth and the life. No comes to the Father except through me..." (John 14:6) Jesus is urging his disciples to put their faith and trust in Him and to remain in Him.

The second assurance is this: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of Truth, which the world cannot accept because it neither sees nor knows it." (John 14:15-16) "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." (John 14:17)

If you were there at the upper room with the disciples, would you believe in what Jesus is saying? Of course we would, if we accept Him as our Master, Lord and Savior, because He is speaking from his heart and with great conviction.

There are two things that we must do in order to sustain our intimate relationship with Jesus besides believing in Him. First, we have to reciprocate his unconditional love for us. How? We have to know, keep, and live his commandments. In the context of Matthew, it is living the Beatitudes and all the laws that Jesus proclaimed in Matthew Chapters 5-7. And the summary of the commandments is to love God whole-heartedly and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Secondly, to know, follow and obey the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth, our sanctifier and helper. He is the power behind our sanctification and holiness. We cannot grow in His grace without the Holy Spirit within us. If we do these things, Jesus has assured us that we will not only be loved by Him, but by the Father as well.

Incidentally, today, May 10th, we celebrate "Mother's Day.” Let us greet all the Mothers, living and dead. Let us thank God for the gift of our Mothers, biological and most of all, our spiritual Mother in heaven, Blessed Virgin Mary. Happy Mother's Day to all the awesome and cool mothers. Remember this - we need you in our life. You are important and significant to us. You are one of God's greatest gifts.