Friday, May 20, 2011

The Way, the Truth and the Life

 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:1-12)




Jesus knows that there will always be times that we will be troubled. Therefore, Jesus assures his disciples that he will always be there for them. This gospel is about his discourse on the last supper wherein, he consoles his disciples regarding his immediate departure. He will be taken away form them and be killed and after he is risen, he will go back to the Father. The disciples are assured that Jesus is with them as the way, the truth and the life.

Jesus is the way. He is our mediator between God, our Father. He pleads for us and every prayer we raise to the Father which passes through him is not our prayer anymore, it is becomes his! Jesus makes sure that beautiful and beneficial things are done in our life. That is why the Church, always says in her liturgy--- Through Christ our Lord. Since as our high priest, Jesus prays for us and God truly listens to the prayers of his Son.

As the way to the Father, Jesus must also be the way that we should tread in order to reach God. Jesus--- and not religion, our prayers, sacrifices and good works. They are good, it is true but they are not the pathways in order to have authentic life on this earth and in attaining glory in heaven. They are good but incomplete if they are not focused on Christ. Even if we pray a thousand rosaries each day, or go to mass everyday or do charitable deeds but we do not really have faith and have a close relationship to Jesus Christ, we will not be saved. Having a close relationship with Jesus Christ entails rejecting sin, putting faith in Jesus,  accepting him as our personal Lord and Savior and living according to his grace. 

Jesus is the truth. The absolute truth. Everything that we need to know about this life is in him. It is not the knowledge that we gain in academic subjects but the Wisdom that we need in life. That is why the Church celebrates the life of Jesus in the whole liturgical year so that we might merit the grace of his life.  And the Church always uses the Word of God and particularly the Gospel in every liturgical celebration so that we might always benefit on the lessons of his word. 

We must take time to learn from Christ by reading the Holy Scripture and by listening to the Church as she teaches and explains the word of God. Sadly among Catholics, they just hear the Word of God at mass but they do not read it at home that is why most of us go astray from our spiritual life. We need to take time reading the Bible. I have a habit of reading three or four chapters of the Bible before I go to sleep and I finish reading the whole Bible in a year. It just takes about fifteen to twenty minutes of your time each day and it is worth doing it considering you are investing for eternity! St. Jerome once says: The ignorance of the Scripture is the ignorance of Christ. However, reading and studying Christ's words is not enough. We must apply in our lives every truth that we learn form Christ. 

Jesus is the life. In him, we have authentic life. Last Sunday we hear in the Gospel that he says: I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10) We benefit from his life, death and resurrection. By configuring our life to his, by putting our faith in him and living in his Truth, we gain eternal life. That is why as we see in the sacraments, Jesus, through the Church, is with us in our whole life! After we are born (Baptism), when we are spiritually sick (Confession), when we are hungry in our spiritual life (Eucharist), when we grow up (Confirmation), when we chose to serve the people of God as our vocation (Holy Orders), when we pledge our love to someone to found a family (Matrimony) and when we are physically sick and we prepare to meet God (Holy Anointing). And we also see Jesus truly alive and continually giving life in Basic Ecclesial Communities, in every Charismatic Group, in seminaries and monasteries, in every family or youth gathering and in every good deed that we do as a Christian. There is light, joy, peace and vitality. It speaks of life!




As Christians, baptized into union with Christ, we must live our life in configuration to Christ. St. Paul describes true life in Christ when he says: I have been crucified with Christ and I now live not anymore in this mortal body but by faith in The Son of God who died for me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)  Then we will have Christ's promise in the Gospel: My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” (John 14:1-2) If Jesus is our way, truth and our life--- we are assured of a place in heaven! There are mansions for us there--- God's promise to his faithful children. Who among us are excited to dwell in these mansions? 

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