RBWords

     The Last Supper discourses take up the entirety of chapters 14 through 17 in the Gospel According to John. They will provide the gospel scriptures for daily Mass for the next few days.  Scripture scholars suggest that the evangelist gathered a number of traditions about Jesus' words and placed them in this context.  Efforts to organize the material have not been very successful.  The thoughts seem to spiral and repeat.  Nevertheless, there are profound truths to be learned and considered  Today's passage is no exception.

     Jesus' words, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me"  have been interpreted by some Christians as meaning that explicit belief in Jesus is necessary for salvation.  All others are condemned.  I was once invited to address a Christian organization on campus, known as Intervarsity.  My subject was Christian spirituality, but at the end, all the questions centered around, "Who can be saved?"  I tried, gently, to say that God did not create billions of people to populate hell, but it was clear that some of the audience thought exactly that!  The coordinator stopped the discussion to avoid discomfort on their part!

     Jesus is, indeed, the "way, the truth and the life."  The degree to which a person is able to realize this is going to vary.  Our Catholic faith offers us the fullness of this reality and we are very fortunate in that regard, but we are not authorized to decide who is going to be saved and who is "going to hell."  There are a thousand "What about....." questions to be asked, but they remain speculative and are subject to human whim and passion.  In the end, it is up to us to join Thomas and the other disciples to see Jesus as he presents himself: the way, the truth and the life.  AMEN