From the readings, we hear how the community of believers was shaping up. There appeared to be a process of specialisation as more were added to their number. The Apostles were now to focus more on the spiritual welfare of the newly baptised. A class of servants, the “diakonoi”, now formed the beginning of the ministry of service (diakonia) to the community. They are our deacons today.
The separation of duties did not and does not diminish in anyway the vocation of ALL believers. Everyone has been called to participate in the priesthood of Christ. Not the ministerial or cultic priesthood but the priesthood in which each member offers to God, from where they are, with all they have for the glory of God and the service of the people.
According to the Principle and Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, humanity is created to praise, revere and serve God. Perhaps one can understand the vice of “selfishness” from this perspective. Everything we have is a gift from God. So to speak, every talent we have is on loan to us by God. Thus the offering of ourselves, in whatever capacity we have, to God is right and just. This is the spiritual sacrifice of the common priesthood which is to consecrate the world to God and to participate in Christ’s mission on earth.
In the Gospel we see these sacrifices from the perspective of Christ and who He is as we are brought back to a time before the Passion. He was talking to them to prepare them for His Calvary that they would soon experience. In order to assure them that His eventual loss of life would not be a defeat, the exchange between Jesus and Philip and Thomas, gave us two certainties.
Firstly Jesus promised them a future after the Resurrection. If there were doubts about life after death, this conversation provide powerful proof there that is an after-life. Otherwise, why would Jesus speak of going to prepare a place for the disciples to follow. Furthermore that going away presumes that one needs to die. Under the glorious glow of Easter, we are assured that death will no longer be the final chapter. It will not be the end of the story and it will certainly not be a closed door.
Under the triumph of the Cross, we dare and should in fact speak of (a) life after life because the victorious and risen Lord has tamed death and transformed it from a trap to a doorway that leads into the other life. The Canticle of the Sun composed by St Francis of Assisi has a stanza which reflects the attenuation or the weakening of death rendering it less frightening and affectionally more friendly. “Be praised through Brother Death of Flesh, from whom no living man can flee”. Death is no longer a chokehold but the welcome embrace of a friend who has been waiting to journey with us to the next life.
However there is a difference between life before the curtain of death and life after. The stanza continues “Woe to those that he finds in sin but those in grace he sets free”. This is a maxim which many may have heard before. "I shall pass this way but once; any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now”. Note a sense of urgency here. We are alerted and notified not to be complacent because the crossing once made is irreversible. Once we have passed the curtain, there is no returning.
As such Thomas’ query provides the second certainty found in the Gospel. Thomas wanted to know how he or anyone else could enter into the resurrection to which Jesus replied. “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”. There are two side to this certainty. From the perspective of evangelisation, it is for us to proclaim Jesus. We need to tell the world that He is the Way and not just a way amongst many other ways. He is the Truth and not just a truth amongst many other truths. He is the Life and not just a life amongst many others lives. Such a proclamation can be structured and methodical. In fact, it is easier to announce to the world that Jesus is the way which can make it feel less threatening personally. What do I mean? Wear a Sacred Heart tee-shirt, hang a cross or a rosary in the car or tattoo a Jesus on the Cross on your chest etc.
There are many ways to express our faith but these can also be less personal in the sense that we can follow a programme without personal investment. We tell others about Him and if more embrace Him, we would consider that our efforts have borne fruits. For example, increased in baptism, more confirmation of those who have not been confirmed or greater attendance of the Landings programme etc.
What is more difficult to be and to do is to personally follow Jesus as the Way, to speak Jesus as the Truth and to live Jesus as the Life. That requires working on ourselves, which involves a lot of effort. Everyone knows that self-reflexion is already difficult to do let alone self-change. Often enough in our spiritual life, we take one step forward and we fall back two. To change our personal behaviour to conform to Christ is much harder than wearing a tee-shirt or tattooing His Cross on our forearm.
In a way, Protestants may have got it right when they ask us if one has accepted Jesus as the personal Saviour. Social religion, in which people practise their faith because everyone else does so can be empty. One goes to Church as expected. When a child is born, he or she is baptised because it is customary to do so. Marriage must be officiated in the Church because of parents’ wish etc. Personal profession is different because it requires my conscious investment of time and space.
Time to pray and time to let God into our lives. It is hard to live Jesus as the Way and the Truth because the path is long and arduous. It requires sacrifice etc. St Therese of Lisieux who never left the Carmelite monastery conceived of a life where Jesus became the centre of everything she did. It was not easy for her. But she showed that it is possible.
In conclusion, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life but more than merely proclaiming Him for others to accept etc, we will be more convincing if we follow His path letting His Truth guide us to the life we are supposed to have which is to be with God the Father. Perhaps it is time to go beyond Waze or Google Map. Let us take the whole Way of Jesus.
