1. "Lord, show us the Father" (Jn 14:8). In the culminating and concluding hour of the messianic activity of Jesus of Nazareth, on the eve of his passion and death on the cross, the Apostles gathered in the cenacle, and in particular Philip, ask the Master: "Lord, show us the Father". Jesus answers them: 'He who has seen me has seen the Father.... I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (Jn 14:9. 11). The disciples' last conversation with their Master is dense with profound content; in it the most profound elements of the Good News converge and are somehow encapsulated. During his earthly mission Jesus had continually spoken of the Father, he had always lived united with Him, in everything he had referred to Him. He, who is totally from Him and for Him, had commanded the disciples to pray to Him by calling Him: 'Our Father'. At the Last Supper, answering Philip's question, he says: "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak them of myself; but the Father who is with me does his works... believe this by the works themselves" (John 14: 10-11).

2. Who is God? The answer to this question is undoubtedly paramount and fundamental to human life. The answers to the questions "Does God exist?" and "Who is God?" can be found in superabundance in the Good News enunciated by Christ. "The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has revealed him" (Jn 1:18). He has revealed God to us in his infinite glory. Although he always remains a mystery to us human beings, this God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - allows us to call him by name. Already in the Old Covenant his Name was revealed to men: Yahweh, "He who is". In the Gospel revelation this Name of God, without losing its primordial identity, has in a certain sense been further opened to human intelligence: "He who is" is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Believers have thus been given to know through faith the inscrutable unity of the Trinity.

3. At the same time, this infinite and mysterious God in His only-begotten Son has drawn near to man in an ineffable way: in Him, the Word made flesh, God has become man. This is why man can now see God: "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). But God has done even more: Christ, the Son of God, has come among men as the Way to the Father. He himself, who comes from the Father and returns to the Father through his cross and resurrection, becomes the Way for us all. Through Him, we too "go" to the Father: through Christ in the Holy Spirit. Through Him we can participate in the fullness of God's own Truth and Life: Yahweh, that is, "He who is" is precisely this absolute divine Fullness, which in Christ is shared with us. "No one comes to the Father except through me" (Jn 14:6), says Jesus. In Him, human life finds its ultimate end in God, who manifests Himself as the eternal "dwelling place" for man, whose existence on earth is like a pilgrimage in search of the Absolute. "In my Father's house there are many places" (Jn 14:2): therefore there are many who will dwell there. To the questions and difficulties of human intelligence, which before this statement wonders how this will be possible, Jesus replies: "If not, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you...". (Jn 14:2). We are thus led to the summit of our faith and hope: Christ's messianic activity, which proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom and fulfils the paschal mystery, constitutes a unique preparation for definitive communion with God. Through this salvific mission, the Son prepares a place for us in the Father's house. We are therefore all "called", that is, we are invited to dwell in the eternal dwellings, to participate in and enjoy that fullness of Truth and Life that is God himself.

4. The invitation to dwell in the eternal dwellings is addressed to all of us, dear Brothers and Sisters, gathered in this enchanting Valley, witness to the ancient and glorious Church of St Libertine. We stand before the largest complex of ancient temples still standing today. It speaks to us of the deep need for God present in the heart of humanity in every age and culture. And I am glad to be able to read and interpret with you this Johannine Gospel of today Sunday. I am glad that these ancient columns of Greek temples can hear the living voice of the Gospel, of Christian Revelation, after so many millennia. We are living, this evening, at the close of my visit to your Diocese, a special experience of faith and communion. Coming from the various regions of the Island, dear faithful, you have gathered together with the Successor of Peter to renew your adherence to Christ, the "cornerstone" that structures the whole edifice of God. You are the witnesses of Jesus, Way, Truth and Life of man in this Sicilian land. Your existence is called to become more and more an evangelical sign of reconciliation and resurrection.

5. When man opens himself to faith, he experiences that selfishness is replaced by altruism, hatred by love, revenge by forgiveness, greed by loving service, selfishness and individualism by solidarity, division by concord - as this ancient temple near Agrigento is called -, violence by mercy. This happens when man opens himself to faith. When, on the other hand, one rejects the Gospel and its message of salvation, a process of attrition of moral values is set in motion, which easily has negative repercussions on social life itself. Is this not perhaps the ultimate reason for the failure of a culture based on personal gain, which does not consider the real needs of people, especially the poorest, condemned to remain victims of the injustices of an increasingly competitive society with less and less solidarity? The real force capable of overcoming these destructive tendencies springs from faith. This, however, demands not only an intimate personal adherence, but also a courageous outward witness, expressed in a convinced condemnation of evil. It demands here, in your land, a clear reprobation of the culture of the Mafia, which is a culture of death, profoundly inhuman, anti-evangelical, an enemy of the dignity of persons and of civil coexistence.

6. The serious situations of poverty, which have caused so much suffering among your people, forcing a large number of men and women to separate from their dearest affections to emigrate to distant countries, have favoured the emergence and spread of real diseases in the social fabric, such as latifundialism and mafia phenomena. At the same time, however, many people, precisely in such difficult conditions, have learnt to suffer with dignity, to work with tenacity, and to never lose hope in God and man. Just as in past years the Sicilian people were able to overcome long and painful trials, so too today they have the necessary resources, together with the solidarity support of the Italian nation, to heal the current wounds, many of which are the fruit of atavistic social conditions. The Sicilian Church is called, today as in the past, to share the commitment, fatigue and risks of those who struggle, even at personal cost, to lay the foundations for a future of progress, justice and peace for the entire Island.

7. May divine grace sustain you, dear friends, in this fraternal and concerted effort. "Turn to us, O Lord; in you we hope" (Responsorial Psalm): the liturgy has had us repeat this confident invocation just now. We hope in the Lord: this is the firm certainty that sustains the steps of those who work for justice and peace. May this also be the comfort of all of you, living stones of the ancient edifice of the pilgrim Church of God in Sicily. With these sentiments I am happy to embrace in the Lord the dear Bishops of the Region, present here together with Cardinal Salvatore Pappalardo, Archbishop of Palermo. I greet in particular Monsignor Carmelo Ferraro, Pastor of the Diocese of Agrigento, which is hosting this solemn celebration. I cordially thank him for the courteous expressions he wished to address to me on your behalf. My thoughts turn then to the secular and regular Clergy, to the priests, to the men and women Religious, to the Members of secular Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life, as well as to the Laity generously engaged in Christian life in the different fields, in the different vocations, in the different commitments. Finally, I address a special, affectionate thought to the sick, those who are present here and many others whom I wish to unite in my prayers and intentions. Then there are the young people. They have kept vigil all night. They should be tired and fatigued, but you cannot see it. You can see the strength. Where did this strength come from? I think it came from the Spirit that the Lord does not deny to those who pray to Him. And these young people prayed all night long. I wish you, dear friends, this strength, the strength for good, the strength to overcome the hardships, the moral illnesses of your land. The strength for a better future for Sicily. In this context, the words of the Apostle Peter ring true: 'You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people whom God has purchased to proclaim the wonderful works' (1 Pet 2:9) of the Lord. Be all of you apostles of the One who has called you out of darkness into his admirable light. This is the charge I leave you. Especially to you, young people, and to all you members of this splendid Christian community of Agrigento.

8. "I am the way, the truth and the life" (Jn 14:6): as he once spoke to the apostles, so Jesus speaks to us this evening. He adds: "I will take you with me, that you also may be where I am. And of the place where I go, you know the way" (John 14: 3-4), for: "I am going to the Father". We all, following Christ, his prayer, his Gospel, repeat tonight "Our Father". It is the prayer of our life. Not only do we strive to make the invocations of this prayer our own, but we want to love Christ, the only Way to the Father, with all our heart and life.

Lord Jesus, "show us the Father and that is enough for us" (John 14: 8).

Amen!

At the end of the Holy Mass, after the final Blessing, John Paul II pronounced these words in his own words (the transcription that follows is literal, therefore with some grammatical imperfections)

Dearly beloved,

I wish you, as the deacon said, to go in peace: to go in peace to find peace in your land.

Dearly beloved,

one does not easily forget such a celebration, in this Valley, against the backdrop of temples: temples from the Greek period that express this great culture and this great art and also this religiosity, the temples that are witnesses today to our Eucharistic celebration. And one has been named "Concordia": be this name emblematic, be it prophetic. Let there be concord in this land of yours! Concordia without death, without murder, without fear, without threats, without victims! Let there be concord! This concord, this peace to which every people and every family aspires! After so many times of suffering you finally have a right to live in peace. And these who are guilty of disturbing this peace, these who bear so many human victims on their consciences, they must understand, they must understand that innocent people are not allowed to be killed! God once said: 'Thou shalt not kill': no man, any, any human agglomeration, mafia, cannot change and trample on this most holy right of God!

This people, the Sicilian people, so attached to life, a people that loves life, that gives life, cannot always live under the pressure of an opposing civilisation, a civilisation of death. What is needed here is a civilisation of life! In the name of this Christ, crucified and risen, of this Christ who is life, the way, the truth and the life, I say to those responsible: convert! Once will come the judgement of God!

Dearly beloved,

thank you for your participation in this prayer that is so evocative, so profound, so participatory. I leave you with this greeting: Praised be Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life! Amen.

[Pope John Paul II, homily in the Valley of the Temples, Agrigento 9 May 1993]