I am the way, and the truth, and the life

Fifth Sunday of Easter, Yr A

Collect

Almighty ever-living God, constantly accomplish the Paschal Mystery within us, that those you were pleased to make new in Holy Baptism may, under your protective care, bear much fruit and come to the joys of life eternal. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading
Acts 6:1-7

They chose seven men filled with the Holy Spirit.

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles

As the number of disciples continued to grow,
   the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews
   because their widows
   were being neglected in the daily distribution.
So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said,
   “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.
Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men,
   filled with the Spirit and wisdom,
   whom we shall appoint to this task,
   whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer
   and to the ministry of the word.”
The proposal was acceptable to the whole community,
   so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit,
   also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas,
   and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
They presented these men to the apostles
   who prayed and laid hands on them.
The word of God continued to spread,
   and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly;
   even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19

R. :

℟. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Exult, you just, in the LORD;
   praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
   with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.

℟. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Upright is the word of the LORD,
   and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
   of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.

℟. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
   upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
  and preserve them in spite of famine.

℟. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Second Reading
1 Pt 2:4-9

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood.

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Peter

Beloved:
Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings
   but chosen and precious in the sight of God,
   and, like living stones,
   let yourselves be built into a spiritual house
   to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices
   acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For it says in Scripture:
   Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
   a cornerstone, chosen and precious,
   and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.
Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith:
   The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the cornerstone,
and
   A stone that will make people stumble,
   and a rock that will make them fall.
They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.

You are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
   a holy nation, a people of his own,
   so that you may announce the praises” of him
   who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

The word of the Lord.

Acclamation before the Gospel
Jn 14:6

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father, except through me.

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Jn 14:1-12

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

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.”

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection

Today and next Sunday we will be reading from one of Jesus’ Last Supper speeches, specifically chapter 14 of John’s Gospel. The text is so pregnant with meaning that this reflection will only focus on the central statement from which the rest of the discourse flows.

In response to Thomas’s question, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus replies: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6)

Thomas is quite a prominent figure among the disciples in John’s Gospel, with the key scene being when he meets the risen Jesus and, placing his hand on Christ’s wounds, declares: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28). Perhaps this is why he was so determined to see the wounds to believe and eventually arrive at this confession: because he was focused on what was truly necessary. In fact, during the Last Supper he asks Jesus, in essence: “Where are you going? Where will you lead us?”

This may also explain why Thomas becomes unsettled and finds himself outside the Upper Room after Jesus’ death: he felt shaken because he had lost the way. And one who loses the way does not simply stand still waiting for things to fall into place, but seeks to find it again.

This, however, was not just any path. If Thomas were living in our time, he might quickly solve the problem with Google Maps. But this was the Way—not any road: Jesus himself. Jesus himself is the Way along which we must follow to come to know the Truth and receive Life. And here too, “Truth” and “Life” are with a definite article (“the”), not any truth, or common respiratory life.

As Thomas Aquinas observes in his Commentary on the Gospel of John (ch. 14, lect. 2), Christ is the Way because through him we have access to the Father (see Eph 2:18). He says this as man, because by becoming one of us he rebuilt the bridge between us and God that had been broken by sin. Yet, through the humanity of Jesus, the Way that leads to what comes from his divinity is opened: for, as God, he is Truth itself. This is why, in his encounter with Pilate, we are left hanging with the question: “What is truth?” (Jn 18:38). Truth is not something reached merely through philosophical reasoning, but through an encounter with the person of Christ—the Word of God himself, the Truth of God revealed to humanity.

And, as God, he is Life itself, as we read in the opening verses of the same Gospel: “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (Jn 1:3–4).

In a word, Jesus is the source of our life. We reach him by walking the path of our lives hand in hand with him, allowing our steps to be illuminated by the truth of his Word.

Prayer

Lord, I am one of your sheep.

Lord, I think that the words from today’s Gospel passage have unsettled me somewhat, because there is so much to reflect upon. Yet, one thing is truly necessary: to respond to your command, “Believe in me!” (see Jn 14:1). For me personally, you are truly the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Everything else falls gradually into place, as you continue to draw us into the heart of the mystery of love between you and the Father, so that we too may discover ourselves—acknowledging that we are loved and created with purpose, not by chance.

 

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