Fifth Sunday of Easter

 Lectionary: 52

Where I am going you know the way."
Thomas said to him,
"Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?"
Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me."

When  a president of the United States wants to put his own face on American currency; some of us wonder where this is going. Similarly, the Lord's disciples wondered how soon Jesus might arrive at his full stature as Messiah of the Jewish people and Lord Emperor of all nations. His assurance, as usual, was "Trust me." 

Throughout the Gospel according to Saint John, the Lord continually demanded that his disciples, the crowds, and his opponents believe in him. He provided signs to show that God his Father had approved and endorsed him, although the signs were never quite as overwhelming as we might prefer. He changed water into wine but only the servants knew about it. He told the Samaritan woman that she'd had five husbands and was living with another one, who was not her husband. Now how did he know that? 

He reminded Nicodemus that the Spirit of God blows where it will; it doesn't take a great theologian to figure that out. He healed several sick persons; but some of them might have recovered anyway. He predicted that Lazarus' apparent death was only sleep, and then, as if waking him up, called him out of the grave although he'd been buried four days before. Now That was Something; but a lot of people were not impressed. 

And through it all, from the day he stirred up a one-man riot in the temple until he stood before Pontius Pilate and said, "My kingdom is not of this world." Jesus insisted that we should trust Him and believe that what he said would come to pass. 

During his last supper, the Apostle Philip made one final request, which no one would think unreasonable, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." And Jesus replied with exasperation, 

"Have I been with you for so long a time

and you still do not know me, Philip?

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?

Beginning with the Enlightenment, somewhere in the late 17th century, the western world began to prefer the human sciences to God's Word, Jesus, and the Church. Our distaste for medical research conducted on cadavers, some pre-scientific ideas about cosmology, and some stories in the Bible like Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood, made God’s Word and our beliefs seem out-dated and frankly useless. 

When 19th century scientists acted as if they, their facts, and their theories were infallible, only some Catholics were persuaded when Pope Pius IX replied by calling himself infallible. However, when 20th century scientists backed away from their infallibility, the Church was left with an infallible Pope, and none too sure what it means or how to respond to it. The world was moving on without the leadership and authority of the Church.  

But we still believe in Jesus. We believe that he came from and returned to God his Father, that he has been raised from the dead, and that he remains with us forever in the Church and the Eucharist. We also believe in the spiritual authority God has given to His Church, especially as we find the world insisting on their right to abort babies, execute trapped, defenseless criminals, and mangle the human body to fit popular fads. 

And we share the world's post-modern skepticism about human knowledge in general. In this 20th century we saw too many sciences like phrenology, eugenics, and racism discredited. In the name of eugenics the Nazis murdered somewhere between eleven and seventeen million non-combatant souls: Jews, little people, disabled, homosexual, Jehovah's Witness, Catholics, gypsies, and so forth. Not to mention the casualties of endless wars that came with the Enlightenment. 

Religious people in general -- Jews, Muslims, Catholics, and Protestants -- are not overwhelmed by the ideologies of the Enlightened age -- from Marxist communism, to socialism, feminism, and transgenderism. When we're told that religious wars killed a lot of people in 17th century Europe, we remember the Napoleonic wars which killed as many as six million people between 1803 and 1815. The United States has never engaged in a religious war but our patriotic wars have cost the lives of millions of soldiers, sailors, flyers, and civilians. 

We use the sciences; we listen respectfully to ideologies, we understand that wars will never cease in this world, but we believe in Jesus Christ. And we strive to live by the standards of decencies and reverence which He, through the Holy Spirit and the Church, still teaches us today. We believe with all the more intensity and personal conviction that he remains with us – each and every one of us – to this day. In the prayers of the Church, the Most Blessed Sacrament, and our personal lives, we feel his presence. We recognize the Voice of the Good Shepherd. We believe that God hears our prayers not because we’re especially good people but because we pray in the name of Jesus. We have his personal assurance. 

When the Lord insisted that we believe in Him he also taught us to believe in ourselves in the face of a world which discounts, ignores, and tries to manipulate every one of our thoughts, words, and deeds. They don’t need slaves anymore; they want users, consumers, and heroes to admire prettiest images and believe that images are truth, goodness, and beauty.

We have heard the Lord say, and we believe, he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Our life begins in his life. Our love – whether it be for spouses, family, or neighbors – begins in his love. Because we love God with all our hearts, souls, mind, and strength, we can love others as he has loved us. We do unto our neighbors as we would have them do to us, which is kindly, with generosity, compassion, and restraint. Always, our passion is for God. 

We believe in the One who said, “Trust me.” Our faith in Him has sustained us through many centuries. We have known doubt and fear, but he has always come back to us, and always drawn us to himself. For He remains, even in the 21st century, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.