“Follow the Yellow Brick Road”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
May 2 – 3, 2026
Gospel: John 14:1-1
1 Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God, trust also in Me.
2 In My Father’s house there are many places to live in; otherwise I would have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you,
3 and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you to Myself, so that you may be with Me where I am.
4 You know the way to the place where I am going.
5 Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?’
6 Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.
7 If you know Me, you will know My Father too. From this moment you know Him and have seen Him.
8 Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him,
9 ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know Me? ‘Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father, so how can you say, “Show us the Father”?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? What I say to you I do not speak of My own accord: it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His works.
11 You must believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works.
12 In all truth I tell you, whoever believes in Me will perform the same works as I do Myself, and will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.
13 And whatever you ask in My name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.i
14 If you ask anything of Me in my name, I will do it.
15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
Today, we hear in the Gospel that our Lord is the divine real estate agent, and He has a celestial deal for us. Jesus has a home for us. He said, “In my Father’s house there are many places to live in; otherwise I would have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you.” Indeed, God has a place for everyone in Heaven because that is why He made us. Remember the first question in the Catechism, “Why did God make us?” The most correct answer is because He loves us. A more complete answer is, “He made us to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.” So, our home in Heaven has been prepared; we just need to complete the deal.
Our Lord has laid out the terms and given us directions for completing the deal. Most success in life comes from following directions. He gave our first parents one direction, and guess what happened. We’re here. Does this look like Eden to you? I mean, Oakboro is very nice, but it’s not Eden. He said, “If you love me, you will keep My Commandments.” All His Commandments are works of love. They are not punishments. They are not restrictions on our freedom. They are works of love. They are not burdensome. But we all think they are, don’t we? “Oh, my God! I have to go to Mass!” Oh, come down from the Cross. We need the wood. That is satan telling you it’s so hard. It’s not. It’s like going to the gas chamber in the military. They try to scare the crap out of you before you go in, and in two or three minutes, you are done, and it’s all over. You were scared for nothing. The worst thing we fear will never happen.
So, we do what Christ asks and complete our part of the deal. We have a place in the Heavenly Father’s house because we are His children, and He wants us there. All we have to do is follow the path He has laid down for us, and it is not that bad. He shows us the Yellow Brook Road that will lead us to what we were made for. He tells us what to do, and all we have to do is do it. It sounds very simple, doesn’t it? It really is. Is it always easy? No. When I was home, I drove by countless Dunkin’ Donuts. No wonder there are so many heart attacks up there. I can have bacon, and no one will know. But I will.
At the beginning of the passage, what does He do for us? He proclaims our love for God and encourages us to grow in His love. The second part is part of the first, and it is to do ourselves no harm. All sin will harm us. Sin does not deliver the happiness it promises. Now, Dunkin’ Donuts certainly delivers the happiness it promises. Pizza also delivers the happiness it promises. Apple pie delivers the happiness it promises. However, yielding to temptation never does, but we fall for it. “It won’t hurt this time.” But we have to keep our eyes on the prize. We never know where it ends. But we are assured of it as long as we stay on the Yellow Brook Road.
Do what God asks us to do. It is not always easy. However, the question is, who do we love more, God or ourselves? If you love Him, keep His Commandments.
Father’s Reflections:
They say there are six degrees of separation between everyone, but in Rhode Island, there is only one degree of separation, and I had to use it. My sister-in-law was having a problem getting something fixed, but I knew a guy who knew a guy, and we got it done. I haven’t lost my skills.
Weird things happen when I’m on vacation. I don’t know why, but they do. I visited my cousin Cheryl with my cousin Lisa. On the way back, Lisa was driving, so I had a chance to look at all the old homes, which I love. Lisa asked me, “Do you want to take the low road down by the river?” Sure! We went down there, and I was looking at all the beautiful homes on the river. I said, “Lisa, because we took the low road, we’ve accomplished two things today.” She said, “What’s that?” We saw some beautiful scenery, and we visited our cousin Peter. A couple of years ago, my cousin Peter died of a heart attack. His wife had him cremated, and she tossed him into the river. She must be Italian.
I think I am getting old. I was looking at my medical report, and it says I have arthritis in one of my ankles and big toes. Oh well. While I was in Rhode Island, I was thinking that the people there have gotten a lot more pleasant. They are good people, but they are not very outgoing like here. If I passed by them, they would say, “Hi, how are you doing?” or if I was driving, they would wave at me. However, that may have been their way of thanking me for driving the posted speed.
How will you apply this message to your life? _________________________________________
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