Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

05-07-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Anthony Okolo, C.S.Sp, V.F.

In the first reading, the disciples dealt with the issue of injustice and marginalization by choosing men filled with the Holy Spirit to do the ministry of service. Peter, in the second reading, encourages us to draw close to God so that we can be living stones built into a spiritual temple. Jesus tells us in the gospel that He is the way, the truth and the life. St. Peter’s call, in the second reading, is very imperative and profound to us today as it was for the first Christians. We are called to be Saints which means that our Christian vocation is a call to take our place in heaven when our earthly life is ended. We seem to know this but for far too many of us, it is more a subconscious than a conscious thought in our daily lives. While doing the same daily tasks, we waste precious months and sometimes years in which we could be storing up treasures in heaven, because we forget God and the purpose of our Christian vocation.

There is a story of two young men, at the age of 21, who went to another country where wages were high, to earn enough to buy for themselves comfortable homes and businesses when they return home after some years. One saved his earnings and sent home most of his monthly wages, enough to set up his business and purchase a home. The other, attracted by the pleasure and play of foreign land, wasted his earnings and forgot the purpose which led him to that land. When both returned home, the squanderer and forgetful one realized his mistakes, but it was too late. The lesson is self-evident when applied to the practice of our religion and the good we should be saving for heaven, our true home. We are working in a foreign land. We can begin today to save for our home in heaven.

Today’s gospel is taken from the first of the three farewell speeches Jesus made during the last supper. We may ask ourselves why the liturgy presents this farewell speech for us to mediate during this Easter season. The answer is simply because a will is read and executed only after the death of the one who dictated it. The word of Jesus is what is addressed to us today and the best time to understand it is during this period of Easter.

In this passage, Jesus gives us a strong reassuring hope when the world seems to be collapsing. There comes a time when the world seems very dark, the night too long and life turns out to be meaningless. At times there comes a time when we have to believe what we cannot prove and to accept what we cannot understand. Jesus adds something to that; He says “Believe in God” and He also says “believe in Me”. For Jesus is the proof that God is willingly to give us everything He has to give. As St. Paul puts it, “He who did not spear His own son, but gave Him up for us all will He not also give us all things with Him?” (Rom 8:32). May we follow Jesus knowing that he is the way, the truth and the life and nothing more matters than following Him.

Fr. Tony Okolo C.S.Sp., V.F.