the e-Testament
John 14: 1-12
The Road
“Don’t let this throw you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”
Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”
Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”
Philip said, “Master, show us the Father; then we’ll be content.”
“You’ve been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don’t understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, ‘Where is the Father?’
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren’t mere words. I don’t just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.
“Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do.
Prayer
Jesus, our way, guide me in life;
Jesus, our truth, teach me your meaning of life;
Jesus, our life, love me always
Jesus Master, our Way, our Truth and our Life,
accept the pact that we present to you through the
hands of Mary, our Mother and Queen.
We respond to your holy will and reach the
heavenly glory to which you call us and to carry out our
daily tasks in love and fidelity to our Christian vocation.
We however are weak and incapable in every way. But
you are the Way, the Truth and the Life. We trust in you
alone who once said; “Whatever you ask the Father in my
name, you will receive it.”
For our part, we promise and commit ourselves to seek
only and always the spread of your kingdom of love and
peace. We trust that you will give us the spirit, grace
and knowledge as means for doing good.
By your immense love and mercy, we beg you to consider our
petition, if it be according to your will especially this one…
(mention your intention). We also ask you to multiply the
fruits of whatever good deed we may accomplish.
Jesus Master, our Way, our Truth and our Life, through the
intercession of Mary, our mother, extend to us your love
and mercy so that faithful to you here on earth, we may
enjoy with you the bliss of heaven.
Amen.
Reflection
‘I am the way, the truth and the life’. This simple short sentence has great depth and meaning about our life’s journey with Jesus as our guide. The sentence is a key to understanding today’s passage in St John’s Gospel. Each person, who has been born, has received a special gift. That gift is life and therefore all of us should want to live life fully, joyfully and respectfully together with other people who are our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.
As part of a great big family living together in the world we try to respect, support, help and know each other a little bit better to make us happier people. Therefore we need to always be honest with each other in order to get on well together and do a lot of good things together. All these things are part of our way of living a Christian life because every single day we are on a journey. A journey to where? It is to God. This is my answer and what would you answer be?
Today’s Gospel presents Jesus our guide in life, as the ‘way, truth and life’. At the very centre of Christianity is the person of Jesus Christ. Our work for Jesus and our love for people, no matter what our calling in life, flow from this. Mother Teresa was once asked why she did what she did, and she simply said ‘for Jesus’. This is a deeply personal relationship. We are led by Jesus ‘one by one’, known personally by our own name, not as just one of a group. We follow him as someone we know, not a stranger. Studying his life and times, getting to know the places and events of his life, becoming familiar with the gospels and getting to know him in the heart in prayer is the way of keeping our centre of motivation strong. As this happens freedom grows and we begin to find him everywhere.
Jesus is the way. Indeed he is a two way street. He comes to us, into our hearts, into our minds. We can go to Him in prayer, in our thoughts. In him, God comes to meet us, holding nothing back, offering everything of who he is and what he has. Through Him and Him alone, we have access to God to such a point that we can now call him Abba, Father.
Jesus is the truth. Not just some truth but the entire truth. He is God’s definitive and perfect Word expressing who God is, what He’s like, who we are, and what we need to do to be saved from misery and futility.
And Jesus is the life. He gives us not only commandments and noble ideals, but also the power to live them out, the power to become new people. That Power is the Lord and Giver of Life Himself, the Holy Spirit, who Jesus pours out on those who accept Him.
So there is only one Way, one Truth, one Life, and one Priest who offers a perfect sacrifice for sins. Simple! Once we’ve been baptized, there is no longer a separation between us, on the one hand, and Him on the other. We are baptized into him, become members of his body, so he begins to live his life and exercise his priesthood through us.
If we let him, he will use our the words from our mouths to spread his truth, our lives to show the way, and our love to give others life. And the works He will accomplish through us will far surpass what he did in his three short years of public ministry. More hungry people will be fed, more sick healed, more books written. Tyrannical, atheistic empires will even be brought down. The Good News will be preached not just in Galilee, but all over the world, not just in person, but touching millions at a time . . . through radio, TV, and internet.
We can get so caught on small or even big truths and doctrines that we miss other centres of faith. All faith needs the balanced approach to Jesus, way, truth and life.
Are you ready to continue your journey with Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life?
Fr Roman Szczypa SDB
Salesian Priest