DAILY MEDITATION: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”

Liturgical day: Fifth Sunday of Easter (A)

Gospel text (Jn 14,1-12): Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way."

Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him."

Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father."

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”

Fr. Walter Hugo PERELLÓ
(Rafaela, Argentina)

Today, the scene we contemplate in the Gospel puts us before the intimacy that exists between Jesus Christ and the Father; but not only that; it also invites us to discover the relationship between Jesus and his disciples. " And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be " (Jn 14, 3): these words of Jesus not only place the disciples in a perspective of the future, but also invite them to remain faithful to the course they had undertaken. To share with the Lord the glorious life, they must also share the same path that leads Jesus Christ to the Father's dwellings.

"Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" (Jn 14, 5). Jesus says to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him" (Jn 14,6-7). Jesus does not propose a simple way, certainly; but he marks the path for us. Moreover, He himself becomes the Way to the Father; He himself, with his resurrection, becomes the Walker to guide us; He himself, with the gift of the Holy Spirit, encourages and strengthens us so that we do not falter on the pilgrimage: "Do not let your hearts be troubled" (Jn 14, 1).

In this invitation that Jesus makes to us, to go to the Father through Him, with Him, and in Him, His most intimate desire and His deepest mission are revealed: " He who for our sake became like us in order to make us his brothers, now presents to his true Father his own humanity in order to draw all his kindred up after him " (St. Gregory of Nyssa).

A Way to walk, a Truth to proclaim, a Life to share and enjoy: Jesus Christ.

Source: evangeli.net