“The Way to Heaven is Heaven”

Jesus said – “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." Jesus is the way to God. He is the way to Heaven.  St. Teresa of Avila said it so beautifully: "All the way to Heaven is Heaven, because Jesus said, ‘I am the Way."  When Jesus says, "I am the Way" that means that we need to enter into a personal relationship with Christ Himself. He’s not just an example for how we live our life so we can enter Heaven. If we do that, if we just follow rules and regulations, we can easily become like the Pharisees.

The Pharisees took the commandments and they took all the revelation of God, and they said, "Ok, this is how I’m going to live my life."  They thought they achieved their salvation because they just followed the pattern laid out for them… the rules and regulations; the ten commandments became 613 commandments. 

Christians do not simply follow a set of rules or just believe in some doctrines. As the late Pope Benedict XVI said: Christianity is not just an intellectual pursuit; we follow a Person.  Non-Christian believers live by the teachings of their leader… like the Muslims, the Buddhists, with all due respect. They live their lives following the teachings of their leaders. But – we Christians – we live IN the Risen Christ… Christ lives and so we live…The Spirit of Christ is IN us by virtue of our baptism… We go to the Father through Christ, with Christ and in Christ.

Jesus said: I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life… Jesus is the answer to all of life’s questions. Jesus is the answer to all of life’s problems. That is why the Pope said: In these troubled times, only in Christ can humanity find hope. Since Jesus is fully God and fully man, He is the perfect mediator between God and man – perfect bridge between heaven and earth. It is in following Christ that we find our way. It is in believing in Christ that we discover truth. It is in accepting Christ in our life that we gain life… not just temporary life but eternal life.

 Jesus is not just a mystery to be solved – but Jesus is a Person, a Being to encounter – a loving presence to experience – that with Jesus, we already start experiencing Heaven inside of us.  Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.  The kingdom of heaven is at hand. You do not need to physically die to experience heaven. Especially in the Eucharistic celebration, the Body of Christ gives us a foretaste of heaven.

 Jesus said, "I am the Truth." We need to follow what is true.  We hear people talk about leaving the Catholic Church, or going to some other Church or religion, or that they go to a certain church because it makes them feel good, or that they are leaving the Catholic church because they are not being fed. 

 The question is: "What is true?" Don’t go for feelings, because feelings are deceptive. You might go to a church or a community and think, "Oh, this is great because everyone loves me and that’s so good." But, is it TRUE? You may join a cult and or a church and everyone may love you and it may feel good for you, or you feel good about it but - is what they teach - true?

 What’s TRUE, and what ISN'T TRUE??  Truth is truth - It’s not a matter of opinion.  Truth is truth whether we believe it or not; whether we understand or not and accept it or not.  Again, truth is truth.

Are you in search of Truth, or are you just in search of a good feeling or a feel-good relationship? Because, ultimately, the only thing that matters is what is true. Truth will always lead you to God… to true happiness, to true peace, true joy.  All truth leads to God, Who is the Source of all that is good… because God is true. 

Jesus said - "I am the Life."  During Easter Season we talk a lot about life – life after death, life before death, an abundant life.  Jesus said "I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full." 

Meaning – it does not matter whether you are young or old or even if you are in your senior years. The best is yet to come.  Just because you are advanced in age, it does not mean that life is over and that we are just waiting for our time to die and go to heaven. Yes, of course we need to find hope and joy in the life to come but we can still live life joyfully peacefully here.

To live in Christ is not only to live life to its fullest but also because of Christ, we can see beyond death.  (John 14:19) – “Because I live, you also will live.”

In his prologue to the Gospel, St. John says, “In Jesus was life, and His life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

If you want to be a person of life, the first thing you should do each morning is PRAY. It is like plugging yourself into the wall to get your batteries charged for the day. That’s much more important than doing your hair, that’s more important than anything else you do in the morning. What’s important is that we pray - that we enter into this intimacy with Jesus, that we enter into prayer that we might have LIFE in Christ every day.

There was a dialogue between a recent convert and an unbelieving friend:

The friend asked the convert: So you have been converted to Christ?

Yes… said the convert.

Then you must know a great deal about him.  Tell me: What country was Jesus born in?

I do not know… replied the convert.

What was his age when he died?

I do not know.

How many sermons did he preach?

I do not know.

The friend finally said: You certainly know very little for a man who claims to be converted to Christ!

The convert finally replied: You are right. I am ashamed at how little I know about Christ.  But this much I do know: Three years ago, I was a drunkard. I was in debt.  My family was falling to pieces.  My wife and children would dread my return home each evening.  They do not want to be in the same room as I am. But now I have given up drink; we are out of debt; ours is now a happy home.  All these Christ has done for me.  This much I know of him!

To really know Christ is to be transformed by what one knows… into Christ…

So, the challenge for us is to be people who know that Jesus is the Way, to be people who search for Truth and to be people who have Life in Christ. When that happens - This is the Promise of Jesus as mentioned in the Gospel. "I solemnly assure you, the one who has faith in Me will do the works that I do..."

..."And will do greater ones than these."

And with that we truly become the Body of Christ. When we receive communion, we become what we partake.  We become the living sacraments of Christ – the presence of Christ on earth… so that others also experience the loving gracious merciful presence of God through us.

We are called to be Christ to one another.

Many Catholics are afraid of the word evangelization.  To evangelize is simply this – you do not need a degree in theology.  To evangelize – to proclaim the Good News, you just need to tell your story – what difference Christ makes in your life.

To proclaim the Good News is like a beggar telling another beggar where to find food… We are all beggars of God’ love, grace and mercy … when you know where to find food, then you tell others where to find food; where to find the way to heaven, the truth about who and whose we are, and the life…. the meaning of life… what life is all about… how to live life to its fullest.

Let me close with this:  Father Glenn gave the homily this morning and I just want to close with this; he said it so beautifully as a summary:

 “Christianity is so much more superior to all other religions, with all due respect, however sublime and noble they maybe in themselves.  In our religion, in Christianity, our way of life is not a philosophy, or a system or a ritual. Our faith, our religion is an encounter with a person.  Why is Jesus the Way? Because He is the Truth, the perfect revelation of God given to us in human form, and because He is the Life, He shares with us the very life of God.

Finally, Jesus does not give us complicated doctrines to follow, doctrines capable of making us lose our way.  Simply, Jesus takes our hand and walks with us in our journey through life.  He gives us one very important commandment.  He says: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Nothing more. With that, who can get lost when Jesus is the Way, when Jesus is the focus of our lives, when the directions are so simple? There is only one guide in our life: Jesus, the Way. And there is only one map: LOVE. All the rest is secondary.

God bless.