Greater Than These Shall He Do
Saturday, May 3rd Readings Reflection: Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles
Today’s Gospel reading contains a passage that is initially perplexing: “Amen, amen I say to you, he that believeth in [M]e, the works that I do, he also shall do; and greater than these shall he do” (Jn 14:12 DRB). At first, Jesus’ statement here appears to be diminishing His omnipotence, which of course cannot be true. As the Son of God, Jesus’ power is infinite, so how can He say that others shall do greater works than He has done?
St. Augustine of Hippo answers this very question in his commentary on this Gospel passage. He writes that in one sense, Jesus’ Apostles and their successors in the priesthood perform greater works than Jesus insofar as more souls are won for Christ now than when Jesus walked this earth. The Gospels tell us that many people heard Jesus’ preaching and turned away, believing His teachings to be too hard to accept. However, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the Apostles and their successors in the priesthood have won countless souls for Christ, not acting by their own authority but by the authority of the One Who has called them to the holy priesthood.
St. Augustine wrote that there is also a second way by which Jesus’ Apostles and priests perform greater works than He, a way that recalls this past Sunday’s feast of Divine Mercy. St. Augustine wrote that God’s infinite mercy, whereby He leads sinners to salvation, is the greatest of all God’s works, even His act of creating the universe: “Judge any one which be the greater work, to create the just, or to justify the ungodly? At least, if both be of equal power, the latter hath more of mercy” (Catena Aurea).
The means by which God bestows His infinite mercy upon sinners is through the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Through the words of a priest, the sins committed after Baptism are forgiven in Confession. Through this wonderful sacrament, all our sins—no matter how great—are forgiven through the words of absolution, provided that we have true contrition. No matter how many times we fall, our infinitely loving God is always waiting to extend His mercy to us if we accept this grace.
As St. Augustine famously wrote, “There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” We sinners cannot become saints without the salvific grace of the sacraments. Left to our own means, we cannot rise above the bonds of sin that ensnare us and keep us from truly loving God. However, transformed by grace through the frequent reception of the sacraments, we are able to experience God’s mercy, extended to us through the ministry of a priest.
In these days of sede vacante as we await the conclave and the appointment of a new pope, let us pray for all those ordained to the priesthood, without whom we would not have the sacraments. Let us also pray for the cardinals who will meet next week to prayerfully choose the next successor to St. Peter, who will carry out the divinely-instituted role of the highest authority over Christ’s flock, performing works “greater than these” as an instrument of God’s mercy.
And let us pray, too, for seminarians as they are being formed as future Church leadership! Thank you so much for these beautiful words today.
Amen!!!!!!