In 2006 I went to Africa because my mother passed away. And for her funeral Mass, some priests suggested me to not preside the Funeral Mass and let another priest to do it. In reaction, I said to them that it will be a pleasure to
celebrate the funeral Mass in order to offer the soul of my mother to God as she offered me to the priesthood. It will be an opportunity to console and comfort my family and friends focusing on Jesus. And the text I chose for funeral Mass was today’s gospel. Because I know that there are many people who are confused, afraid and lost for many reasons. And it is our responsibility as Christians to point them to Jesus and encourage them.
Lost, confusion and afraid (fear) are found in the apostles. By the end of the Last Supper, the disciples were concerned, afraid and confused because Jesus won’t be with them much longer. Jesus feels their sadness and their confusion. His heart is touched. Forgetting himself, Jesus tries to console and encourage them saying: ‘Don’t let your hearts be troubled; you trust in God, trust also in me.’ Later, as the conversation continues, Jesus makes his confession: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’ They should never forget it.
From time to time we all experience fears, worries in our lives. And today, Jesus wants to teach us what we should do and believe when we face trials, sorrow, sadness, and sufferings. I want to say that the difficult thing to go through is to be lost, confused and afraid. Those words applied to human being, brothers and sisters. That is why Jesus Christ came to us. That is why He says: I am the way. What does it mean?
Firstly, Jesus is the Way. He is the way to the Father. I am the way. What does it mean to be lost? To be lost means – I cannot find the way. The way comes to us. He has found us. He is the way. I will no longer be lost because of Him. He is also the truth. That means I do not have to be confused. I know where I am going. I know how much God cares for me. I no longer have to be confused because Jesus is the truth all of us need.
Jesus is the Truth because he is the only one who reveals to us the whole truth about God. He teaches us that God is a loving, merciful, providing and forgiving Father. Jesus is the Truth also because he has borne testimony to truth, demonstrating through his life and death the love of God for human beings. Jesus is the Truth because He was coherent: He did not preach love and forgiveness but He practiced, he lived what He preached.
He is also the life: Jesus is Life. Jesus once said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” In the Bread of Life discourse, he presented himself as the Bread of Life. He is the food that gives eternal life so much so that whoever eats of this bread will live forever. Indeed, Jesus is life.
Every Sunday when I come to Mass, I receive Jesus in the holy communion. Who do I receive? I receive the life. I receive the eternal. He is the one who comes and lives with me. Therefore I have not to be afraid. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life.
Our job this week: My assignment for you is this: everyone needs the way, the truth and the life, your job is to point them to Jesus. Find someone this week in your path. Point out Jesus to them who is the way, the truth and the life for them by your love, by your actions and by your words.
