Breaking the Word

Sts. Philip and James, Tuesday – 3^rd May 2022 — Gospel: Jn 14,6-14

Embracing the Way

Jesus began his proclamation declaring his true identity: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” His earliest followers were energized, particularly with the notion that Jesus was “the way”. In this identity, they could encounter in Jesus what they had previously found as a distant relation with the Father. The God of the ancestors had not been approached as the Father remained hidden, except Moses who met him on Mount Sinai. However, in New Testament times, the one who knows Jesus also knows the Father for Jesus revealed the Father as Father. In Jesus, one sees the Father as never before because no one has revealed him like Jesus does. Therefore, Jesus becomes the revelation of “the way” to the Father. In offering himself on the Cross, Jesus has offered all the revelation that the disciples need to identify the Father. In persecution and martyrdom, those who chose closely to follow the Lord were aptly labeled people of “The Way”. They courageously bore witness to “the way” of Jesus, as they experienced the primary aim of God, namely that Jesus came not to condemn but to save humanity.

3^rd week in Easter Time, Monday – 2^nd May 2022 — Gospel: Jn 6,22-29

Eternal Priorities

Jesus teaches a lesson on priorities. When we invest our time, money and energy we usually focus on the length of benefit we get from it. In the same way, Jesus teaches to work for the food that endures for long, then those that perishes. In their desperate search, the crowds unexpectedly found Jesus on the other side of the lake. Jesus perceives that they have come to him only for the sake of food. The crowds have been fed, but they have not yet begun to understand the significance of Jesus’ feeding or what truly Jesus has to give. And so, Jesus began to teach them the need of an eternal food that endures forever. For this he encourages them to believe in Him as God sent Messiah. Jesus has come to be their Saviour and giver of eternal life, but the crowds betray in their questioning that they are not very much interested in these truths. They are more interested in what Jesus can provide for them now rather than what he can do for them for eternity. Jesus prioritized eternal things, while the crowds neglected the eternal truths by attending to immediate things as more important.