Back when GPS and smart phones didn’t exist, I relied on Thomas Brothers Maps to find my way around the rural areas of Snohomish County to visit parishioners. A family invited me one Thanksgiving to join them for dinner. The husband told me that he was going to deep fry the turkey. With great excitement, I studied the map to find the way to their home, located miles outside of Arlington.
When I got to their street, I couldn’t find their house. When I reached the end of the road, I studied the map again and discovered, that like many roads in Snohomish County, this one resumed on the other side of the hill. That meant driving all the way back to Arlington and taking another road out of town to get to my friends’ home. By the time I arrived, they had finished dinner. Too bad I didn’t ask for directions before leaving the rectory!
Although we are in the midst of the Easter season, the gospel setting is Jesus’ farewell discourse at the Last Supper. Jesus had not died much less risen when he told the disciples, “Where I am going, you know the way.” Thomas and the others had no clue of what was about to happen so Thomas asked a logical question. “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth, and the life.”Ten short words but arguably the most important words spoken in the 5000 years of recorded history. That line rang like a loud bell in the ears of Thomas and his friends and still does today in the 21st century of many.
Thomas a Kempis, the author of The Imitation of Christ,wrote in the 15th century, “Without the Way, there is no going. Without the Truth, there is no knowing. Without the Life, there is no living.”
Notice that Jesus did not say, “I am a way, a form of truth, and a way of life.” With certainty he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Having no doubts, he came to show us the way to find God in this lifetime and the next.
At the start of the gospel, Jesus told the disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them. Like the disciples, we tend to think that he is speaking of a physical place, a destination that we could find if we knew “the way.” The dwelling place that Jesus promised though is not an address but a close relationship with the Father.
As he said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Philip then pleads, “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Exasperated, Jesus asked in so many words, “Don’t you get it? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Patiently, he explains, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” Jesus is the way to this eternal dwelling place we seek for he leads us into the heart of God.
This gospel invites us to enter into a profound relationship with Jesus, so that ultimately we will share a similar and eternal relationship with the Father. You may be thinking to yourself, “Father, you are preaching to the choir; after all, I am here at Mass.” Perhaps I am. On the other hand, ask yourself if you really know the way that Jesus is speaking of.
Many Catholics leave the Church, claiming their spiritual needs are not being met. Would they if they truly knew their faith and recognized Jesus as the way, the truth and the life? Jesus founded this Church to enable us to find God yet only 30 percent of Catholics practice the faith they were raised in, that is, attend Mass at least once a month. What map are they following if they are still seeking God in their lives yet have left the Church?
I remember some parishioners who have left. I never thought they would yet they did and rarely do they tell me why. Might that happen to you? That depends on how much you are seeking to intimately know Jesus and the Father.
I notice that few parishioners ever participate in classes when they are offered. Are they content with what they know or see little need to grow in their faith? If you’re selective about what Jesus passed on to his disciples, that is,choosing what to believe and not believe that the Church teaches, can you really say that you know the way or heed the truth? Those who skip Mass, for example, are ignoring the mandate Jesus gave his disciples when he broke bread and told them to “do this in remembrance of me.” Celebrating his risen presence in the Eucharist, which the Church has done since the first Easter, enriches our faith.
A parishioner recently emailed me, “Isn’t it strange that you can’t find a word to say when you are praying but you have no trouble thinking of what to talk about with a friend? Isn’t it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible but how easy it is to read 199 pages of a popular novel? Isn’t it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven but they don’t want to believe, do or say anything to get there? Stay safe, have a wonderful relationship with God and remain blessed by his almighty hands.”Â
Whatever ways they contrive to find Jesus once they leave the Church could lead former Catholics to a spiritual dead end. Live out your baptismal commitment and allow Jesus to show you the way for his map provides the best directions we need for reaching our eternal destiny. Follow any other way, you could get lost and never get there.