No Way But Him

Sunday, May 10, 2020, Fifth Sunday of Easter

•Acts 6:1-7

•Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19

•1 PT 2:4-9

•Jn 14:1-12

By Marc Massery

Have you ever been lost and had to ask for directions? I always get a little nervous when asking for directions. It’s usually a slim chance that I’m going to both remember what the person said and execute their instructions properly. “Take a left, then a right, then a second left. Then take the third exit past the rotary, cross the bridge, and it’ll be on your right.” Then, of course, who knows if the directions are accurate. One time, when I asked for directions, the person responded, “I’m going there myself. Come on, I’ll show you.” What a relief that was. I barely had to even think. All I had to do was follow him, and I was where I needed to be. 

In the Gospel reading this weekend, Jesus reveals that He’s the kind of person who doesn’t just tell us which way to go. He shows us Himself. He says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He then says that He’s going “to prepare a place” for us. He promises, “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” (Jn 14:1-4)

Doubting Thomas responds, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” (Jn 14:5). 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” (Jn 14:6). 

Christ isn't merely a teacher. Eastern religions, like Buddhism, rely on following the teachings of a certain spiritual leader and implementing their teachings into your life. The focus, in those religions, is on what people can do to make themselves more spiritual, more enlightened. Christianity, on the other hand, is not about what we do to get to God. It’s about what God does to get to us. He did more than teach — He came to earth to enter into our pain and offer Himself as a Sacrifice for us. Through His actions, He won for us grace, which we can cooperate with and so become better, holier people. 

Christianity teaches us the truth about ourselves — that we are fallen, weak, fragile human beings who need an all-powerful God to save us. No matter how disciplined or determined we might be, we can’t get very far on our own. That’s why we need grace, that's why we need God’s gratuitous action in our lives. As St. Faustina writes in her Diary, “[W]e can do nothing of ourselves; all is purely and simply God’s grace” (55). 

So, if you have problems in your life, don’t expect yourself to overcome them on your own. Take your problems to the Lord. God asks us not to make our problems the center of our attention. We ought to make Him the center of our attention. By doing so, the Lord will take care of everything.

Now, this doesn’t mean we sit back and do nothing. It merely means that we make pleasing the Lord our top priority. Everything else is secondary. He is the Way. Trust in Him, and He will take care of the rest. 

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Photo by Nick Tiemeyer on Unsplash

33DGG

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