Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk

Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year, A – May 14, 2017

Readings: Acts 6:1-7; Responsorial Psalm Ps 32:1-2,4-5,18-19; 1 Pet 2:4-9; 

Gospel John 14:1-12.

Theme: Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life!

Friends in Christ, the Penny Catechism reveals that God the Father created the world, God the Son redeemed the world and God the Holy Spirit sanctifies the world. For Jesus to claim that He is the way, the truth and the life means that He invites us to a Trinitarian expose that is capable of catapulting us into divine realities. We shall mediate on these realities as they relate to our daily lives:

Jesus as the Way: Before making the claim that He is the way, the gospel (John 14:1-12) reveals that Jesus told the apostles that He is going to prepare a place for them assuring that there are many mansions in his Father’s House. We must understand that Jesus wanted to clear the doubts, distress, confusion and anxieties of the apostles which was why he said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Indeed Jesus does not only know the way – In fact, He is the way; as the way, he goes to the Father while inviting His followers to follow suit. By claiming God as His Father, who is responsible for preparing mansions for us, Jesus invites us to be faithful heirs of the kingdom. His response to Philip underscores the point.

Our liturgy exhorts us to shun other dissenting voices claiming to be the way. The proliferation of churches and miracle centres with pastors who claim to be showing the faithful the way to God but end up milking the faithful dry and making their situation worse, comes to mind. We must we weary of anyone teaching us ways that are different from what Jesus is and what He has taught us namely that, He is the way - He is the way ; He knows the way; He goes the way and holds us dear to himself while giving direction.

Jesus as the Truth: In his article, How is Jesus “the Truth?” Randy Alcorn opines that as truth personified, Jesus is the source of all truth and becomes for us the source of evaluating all truth-claims. Jesus’ claim that He is the truth means that there is iota of deceit in Him and so he calls us to walk in the truth (John 1:3), love the truth and believe in the truth (Thessalonians 2:10-12).