Kuwait City, 16-18 May 2014
Homily of the Apostolic Nuncio
His Grace Archbishop Petar Rajič
Acts 6:1-7; 1 Pt 2:4-9; Jn 14:1-12
The words of Jesus in today’s gospel reading are very comforting: Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. The Lord Jesus tells us that we should not worry so much about our lives or our destinies, but rather, he asks us to trust in the Father and in him, and put all our trust in his promises.
Jesus then further emphasizes his words by promising: I am going to prepare a place for you… I will come back again and will take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. There is a place beyond this visible world, where the Lord God who loves us with an everlasting love resides. This is not a space, but every place where we encounter God’s love and where He is loved. It is here where love is shared that God wishes to be with us. Though we may sincerely desire this as well, we can identify ourselves with that part of humanity that is constantly searching for God and the meaning of life, in the words of the Apostle Thomas: Master, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Indeed, how can we truly come to that place and find the path that Jesus mentions? How do we reach Jesus in order to be where he is? Jesus gives his answer that remains for all eternity a program of life for everyone who believes in him and wishes to follow him: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is the Way that leads to the Father. His life was a life of sacrificing his own will while accepting the will of the Father. A life or way of accepting the cross, suffering and death in order to come to the resurrection. A way of love for humankind in need in order to manifest the love of the Father to the world and all of creation. By his life, he showed us the true way to the Father and leads us on our life journey in this world towards eternity.
Jesus is the Truth of life, which has been revealed in his person. The truth therefore is not a definition, an idea or philosophical interpretation, but his person, because he has revealed to us that God is love and that his love is manifested in the world through us and the work of our hands.
Jesus is the Life. Indeed the fullness of life has been revealed to the world through him. The life that God offers us is not mere existence or survival, but it is the free acceptance of sacrificial love that lifts us above our own will and selfishness, and empowers us for specific acts of charity that are capable of uplifting, encouraging, renewing and fostering all that is good. Jesus left us the best example of life that leads to eternity. Let us now believe and accept these words of Jesus, in order to find comfort for ourselves, so that our faith and trust in God’s promises be renewed and we may then follow him who is the Way the Truth and the Life in order to find our place in his Sacred heart.
