We are approaching the conclusion of the Easter Season, let us reflect on how we perceive Jesus. Who is He? This will guide us to transition from Easter to ordinary Time.
Today the Gospel takes us back to a conversation Jesus had with his disciples before his passion. Jesus told them do not let your hearts be troubled, why? Because after His passion, death, and resurrection, He will go to the Father’s house and there He will prepare a home for them. To Thomas, Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life.” No one would be able to come to the Father except through Jesus. Why? Because as he told Philip “The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his work.
The Father is in him, and so He’s also in the Father.
Today, humanity is basically searching for three things: Some direction (the way), something that is real (the truth), and something that will last forever (life). Jesus summed up everything in one verse in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” Christ offers us credible direction that leads us to where we want to go. His life and words teach us how to live with one another in love and in peace, and how we can overcome evil and sin.
He presents us with the facts of human life and what the future holds for those who follow him. With Him we have something that takes us beyond the limits of this world. We should therefore not let our hearts be troubled because Jesus is the way, the way to our inner freedom, the way to true peace, the way to self-fulfillment, and the way to perfect reconciliation with the church and with God. Jesus, the way to true wisdom and dignity is the one who unites us as a family of God. If there is anyone who can direct us along the path of freedom and righteousness, it is Jesus. We should therefore not let our hearts be troubled.
Jesus is not only the way, but He is also our measuring rod and model in life. Even though a “way” could be a manner of thinking, feeling, or deciding, it was actually the name for church in the early stages of its formation. The early disciples were identified as “the Way”. “Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1-2).
Jesus did not tell his disciples about the way or show them the way or guide them along the way, but he said, “I am the way.” The world makes us understand that there are many ways to reach God and that being a good person is always enough. But “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) The fact is that there are many ways that lead to many places and destinations, and we do not dispute that, but the only way to the triune God is Jesus Christ. We are therefore encouraged: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” (Matthew 7:13). Jesus is the only way to get right with God, and the only way to get saved. Do not let your hearts be troubled, Jesus is our model.
A Knights Pilgrimage: The Basilica of St. John Lateran
In the first reading, the early Christians faced some crisis, the widows from the Greek origin (Hellenists) were not treated equal with the Jews (Hebrews). The community didn’t collapse. A new ministry was born. (Deacons). How can we revive the Church. It is when we get back to Jesus.
We are part of the church, and we can construct if only we become part of the living stone, Jesus. Jesus is constructing a place, a home for us. There is space for each of us but let Jesus be the contractor – the way.
Our money will perish, our vacations will end, our beauty will fade, our power will evaporate, we will age and finally die. Jesus is the direction we seek, the reality we want to encounter and the life we want to have. We should therefore not look to the world for the answers we seek. We must not allow our hearts to be troubled. Let us trust in God still, and trust in Jesus Christ. May he bless us always. Amen.
Recent Comments