It is clear that this dear apostle son Philip is not always exactly measured and affable in words. But the Lord also leaves him the freedom to enter into a relationship with Him as he is, with all his doubts, his uneducated, but at the same time very filial, brutally authentic and all too spontaneous way of behaving – “Okay Jesus : it’s nice how you speak, for goodness sake, but let’s get to the point: Show us a little about this Father on whom you spend so many words! So far I find that you make a lot of smoke and no fire!
This is not to say that to be Christians and children of God it is necessary to live speaking without filters and without consideration for others, but to underline that even when our inner child takes over, when we wobble on our tired and crooked little legs and the most shady of us will peep into our way of relating to others, even then we will not lose the affection of our Master and Lord.
Precisely this awareness accompanies the actions of a Philip who is not afraid to appear childish, which tells us a lot about the scent of gratuitousness that must have characterized the Love that Jesus manifested towards the people he met. In other words: a child can make mistakes, he can even sin, but he will always be loved; his value will never be affected by the falls he makes.
Sonship, then, always implies and includes brotherhood. Jesus reminds Philip (and perhaps us too) that it is only this other-Other, who will keep us moving, who will always call us into question, who will always confront us with our own difficulties in relating and overcoming the rejection that separates like a barrier from real, concrete, limited brothers, but a testing ground and fertile ground of Heaven, as we ourselves are.
Living Stones (Rome)
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Source: Get up and Walk – the daily gospel with commentary
