Vth Sunday of Easter

EASTER V SUNDAY HOMILY

Readings ACTS 6:1-7;1 PETER 2:4-9;JOHN 14:1-12

Five-year old Johnny is in the kitchen with his mother who is preparing supper. She asks him to go to the basement and fetch her a can of tomato soup. “It’s dark in there and I’m scared,” replies Johnny. The mother tries to convince him it is safe to go alone to the basement, but no success. Finally she says “It’s all right, Johnny, Jesus will be in there with you.” Johnny walks hesitantly to the door and slowly opens it. He peeps inside, sees that it is still dark in there, and starts to go back. Then, suddenly he gets an idea. He opens the basement door a little and yells: “Jesus, if you’re in there, would you hand me a can of tomato soup, please?”
Johnny’s fear is similar to the fear of the disciples as the time draws near for Jesus to leave them. They are afraid to face the world alone. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus does pretty much what Johnny’s mother tried to do, namely, convince the disciples that there is no need to be afraid, even when he is not there with them.
It is only because Christ has given us himself, his friendship, his own life, that he can give us true peace of heart. At the Last Supper he commanded his Apostles, "Do not let your hearts be troubled," Jesus can say it - for him it is not empty advice or wishful thinking. Jesus has suffered for us. Jesus has died for us. Jesus has paid the price of our sins. Jesus has gone to prepare us a place in his Father's house, a place that no one can take away or destroy. If we stay close to him, what do we have to fear, what can trouble us? St Paul wrote: "With God on our side, who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son... we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give..." (Romans 8:31-33). It is hard for us to accept this wonderful truth. But true it is. The whole universe is ours, because Christ is ours. In the midst of troubles, temptations, sicknesses, failures, and even our sins, Christ is always by our side, loving, guiding, and upholding us. As we accept this truth, we begin to experience true peace of heart, the kind that doesn't depend on moods and circumstances, the kind that gives us the strength and joy of the martyrs, who sang hymns as they were burnt at the stake.

When St. John Chrysostom was summoned before the Roman emperor Arcadius and threatened with banishment, he replied, “You cannot banish me, for the world is my Father’s house.” “Then I will kill you,” exclaimed the emperor angrily. “No, you cannot,” retorted Chrysostom, “because my life is hidden with Christ in God.” “Your treasures shall be confiscated,” the emperor replied grimly. “Sir, you can’t do that because my treasures are in heaven as my heart is there.” “I will drive you from your people and you shall have no friends left,” threatened the emperor. “That you cannot do either, Sir, for I have a Friend in heaven who has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’
In his suffering and death Jesus showed us the way to the Father. By his resurrection he is able to be with us always and in all circumstances.
'I am the Way' – Christ is the road. A road is a journey. We are never the same at the end of a journey as we were at the beginning. It changes us – it is a pilgrimage.
'I am the Truth' – the Truth that meets us on the road. We Christians have not 'got' the Truth. The Truth has got us. Our encounter with Truth is first of all a journey of change in us.
'I am the Life' – this journey of Truth gives us life. It is never oppressive or destructive. But it is also a journey which lasts all our lives – with the ups and downs that is bound to involve. Encountering the Truth is being changed by it . And it will put us into the journey to freedom. And so Christ is the Truth in whom we can be confident – because we have dared to let him change us.
When a Person is a Way for us to get to the Father and everlasting life, that Way is found only in our relationship with Him, that is, in our union with Him in mind and heart, in will and action. But Jesus’ sure way to God is the narrow way of the cross. It is the least-traveled way of humble, loving, self-giving and committed service to others. To follow the Way of Jesus is to become a special kind of person, a person whose whole being reflects the Truth and the Life that Jesus reveals to us. It is to be a person of Truth and Life who is totally identified with the vision and the values of Jesus.
Truth here is that complete integrity and harmony which Jesus himself revealed, not only in what he said and did, but in the total manifestation of his life and person. Jesus is the truth, the word of God.
Jesus is the Life. As God, Jesus has eternal life in himself. In addition, he is the one who gives us his life-giving Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Life also in the sense that he allows us to share in God’s Life through the sacraments. Christ rose from the dead for two reasons: first, to give us eternal life; second, to make us fully alive now. His Spirit animates every moment of our lives. To be fully alive is to be in God. Thomas a Kempis wrote, "Without the Way, there is no going. Without the Truth, there is no knowing. Without the Life, there is no living."
Jesus asked Philip: “Have I been with you all this time and you still do not know me?” He is asking us the same question: “Have I been with you all this time – in the Mass, in the sacraments, in the Bible in the worshipping community – and you still do not know me?” If we really believe that Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life, then we will find fresh and creative ways to keep alive his memory. Jesus asks us to keep alive his memory by reading and praying the Scriptures, by gathering in Jesus’ name and celebrating the Eucharist “in memory” of him, by handing on the great tradition of Christian faith and by living according to his wise teachings. God is always with us. God is always living in us. Find the true way to life, that is Jesus Christ.