“I am the way, the truth, and the life”
How do we follow the Way? We repent from sin and turn to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We must also live in the way of the Sacraments. The beautiful thing about Jesus’ way is that it is an open invitation to everyone. There is no age, gender, or race restriction. Even those who have “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” [1] through the practice of false religion are not excluded, but rather welcomed into the light and fullness of truth. We are all called to follow in His way, and even if we step away, we can find our way back and follow Him again. What are the ways that are offered to us? We hear people say that there are many ways, many paths; Jesus however is not “a” way but “the” way.
“Have you already discovered Christ, who is the Truth? Truth is the deepest need of the human spirit. Young people especially are hungry for the Truth about God and man, about life and the world. In my first Encyclical Redemptor Hominis I wrote: "The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly - and not just in accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even illusory standards and measures of his being - must with his unrest, uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ" (n. 10). Christ is the Word of Truth, uttered by God himself, in response to all the questioning of the human heart. He is the One who reveals fully to us the mystery of man and of the world.” [2] At the trial of Jesus, Pontus Pilate asks the question that all of us ask, “What is truth?” [3] The irony is that Pilate is asking “the Truth” what truth is. How many times is the truth right before our eyes but we can’t see it because we are blind? Many times we do not except the truth, because it is not “our truth” not what is truth to us. The truth is hard to accept and demands sacrifice. Pilate was looking for “his truth” not “the truth”. As Christians we are safeguarded from the error by accepting and living daily our baptismal vows, “Do you reject Satan? And all his works? And all his empty promises?” [4] The truth sets us free, empty promises enslave us.
Where do we get Truth? Jesus is eternal and does not change in regards to His divinity. The fact that Jesus is “the truth” tells us that truth is not relative, truth does not change, it is absolute. The Law of Contradiction states that something cannot be both true and not true at the same time. For example A is B and A is not B cannot both be truth, one has to be false. Something cannot be both true and not true. Relativism proposes that truth is relative to the situation and is up to the subject (individual). The Church teaches that truth is not subjective (up to the individual) but objective (God reveals it to us). How does God reveal truth to mankind? The answer is in the Gospel, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” The Father and Jesus are one, the Father reveals truth through the Son. Saint John the Apostle could not be more clear about the difference between a lie and the truth and how the truth resides in the Father and Son. “I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth. Who is the liar? Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. No one who denies the Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.” [5]
“Have you already discovered Christ, who is the Life? Each one of you is so anxious to live life in its fullness. You live with great hopes, with so many fine plans for the future. But do not forget that the true fullness of life is to be found only in Christ, who died and rose again for us. Christ alone is able to fill in depth the space of the human heart. He alone gives the strength and joy to living, in spite of any limit or external impediment.
Yes, discovering Christ is the finest adventure of your life. But it is not enough to discover Him just once. Discovering Him becomes every time an invitation to seek Him always more, to come to know Him still better through prayer, participating in the sacraments, meditating on his Word, through catechesis and listening to the teachings of the Church. This is our most important task, as St Paul had well understood when he wrote: "For me, indeed, to live is Christ" (Phil 1:21).” [6]
Fads come and go. Jesus does not come and go, but just IS. Jesus did not say, “I am the lifestyle” but “I am the life”. Lifestyles change with the fads of the time; they are temporal and fade away. The life that Christ is and offers through Himself is everlasting because He Himself who offers it is eternal. The life Christ offers is literally eternal life, divine life and it begins now and does not fade away. What do we identify our self with, a fad, style, type of music that will come and go? How can we better identify our self, our life with what is timeless, Jesus Christ and His Church?
What do now that we know Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life? Whenever we make a great discovery of something, we typically want to rejoice and share it with others. When we find a great book, movie, or song, we want to share it with our friends by calling them, texting, Facebook, etc. We must likewise proclaim the good news to everyone. As Saint John Paul II said, “[we] have in a special way the task of witnessing today to the faith; the commitment to bring the Gospel of Christ - the Way, the Truth and the Life - into the third Christian Millennium, to build a new civilization - a civilization of love, of justice and of peace.” Jesus tells us, “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation.” [7] We read in the first reading of the first disciples of the Apostles and the laying of hands to minister to more people. This good news is the risen Lord Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; He was, is, and ever shall be; He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life! Alleluia, He is risen! We still rejoice in this. We are the disciples and missionaries of this generation, in this world, and we must bring Christ to others, and to not be afraid to tell the whole world! Think of how many people around us truly do not know Jesus Christ. How can we help bring Jesus Christ into their lives? What specific things can we do to bring Him into our friendships, our families, our communities, etc.?”
[1] Romans 1:25
[2] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/youth/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_27111988_iv-world-youth-day_en.html
[3] John 18:38
[4] Rite of Baptism
[5] 1 John 2:21-23
[6] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/youth/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_27111988_iv-world-youth-day_en.html
[7] Mk 16:15