There are things in our lives that are certain but we are not certain of them. We need faith — we have to strengthen our faith in God.
Look, just like now we are not sure what will happen later, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the next week, month or year.
Aren’t we shocked by the sudden increase in the price of petroleum products followed by the prices of basic commodities, electricity and water, among other things?
When Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” He is speaking to our fears, grief, and uncertainties, offering His peace and urging a firm faith in Him during challenging times.
We are invited to trust that our struggles are temporary and that Christ’s resurrection brings joy that outweighs our current sorrows.
The Gospel encourages us to live in a way that reveals the invisible God, making the Church a sanctuary of mercy in a troubled world.
The early Church accepted the challenge of keeping Jesus’s memory alive by remaining a dynamic Christian community, bearing witness to Christ by their unity, fidelity in worship and spirit of loving, humble service.
Today’s Gospel introduces Jesus as the Way to God, the Truth to be accepted, and the Life to be shared and lived.
Jesus consoles his apostles — who are sad and disheartened at His announcement that He will be leaving them soon — by assuring them that he is going to prepare an everlasting accommodation for them in his Father’s house in Heaven. He gives them the assurance that He will come back to take them to their heavenly abode.
Jesus answers Thomas’ question with, “I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father, except through me,” which is the basic doctrine of Judaism.
Jesus is equivalent to Yahweh. Jesus declares that He himself is the safest and surest Way to God, that only living a good life of sharing love is necessary to reach God. Jesus is showing us the way to focus, love, and do humble service.
Jesus is the Truth who teaches revealed truths about God and God’s relation to man. Jesus is the Life because, as God, he possesses the eternal life of God and shares his Divine life with his disciples through the Word of God and the Sacraments.
In short, Jesus reveals the Father in the Way he lives, in the Truth of his word and in the new Life that He brings.
My greetings to Ma’am Mawie Aglipay and Atty. Em Villar on their birthdays on 10 May and also to Michael Edgar Yan Aglipay and Ginger Aglipay who have their celebration last 20 April. Likewise, my prayers for our Moderator, the Rev. James Phillip Monserate, OHF who celebrates his birthday with his family and loved ones; to His Excellency, the Most Rev. Nolly Camingue Buco, JSD, JCD, DD; and welcome to Fr. Joseph Ahamefule who arrives tomorrow from Nigeria as it is also his Sacerdotal Anniversary, and to my confreres at OHF.