5th Sunday Easter Year A 2023 Jn 14, 15-21
The Truth Jesus refers to is not something we can possess, nor is it about knowledge, words or information, it is a person, Jesus. We cannot possess Jesus much as we might want to. Fortunately for us, however, we can be possessed by Jesus and therefore by the Truth, and the more we are possessed by the Truth, the more we will be able to live the truth, which is what Jesus asks of us.
The Greek word for truth is alétheia, pronounced phonetically as "al-ay'-thi-a." In ancient Greek culture, alétheia was synonymous with "reality" as the opposite of illusion. This suggests that living the truth is about being real, being authentic, therefore accepting ourselves as we are, warts and all. This is what Jesus does, he accepts us as we are.
The Truth, then is how we live our lives or as Jesus puts it, the Way we live our lives which is to live life in the example of Jesus. The more we live like Jesus the more he becomes our Life.
Macrina Wiederkehr believes this about herself in living the Way:
I will believe the truth about myself no matter how beautiful it is:
I believe in my power to transform indifference into love.
I believe I have an amazing gift to keep hope alive in the face of despair.
I believe I have the remarkable skill of deleting bitterness from my life.
I believe in my budding potential to live with a nonviolent heart.
I believe in my passion to speak the truth even when it isn’t popular.
I believe I have the strength of will to be peace in a world of violence.
I believe in my miraculous capacity for unconditional love.
I will believe the truth about myself no matter how beautiful it is!
This can also be our belief because Jesus lives within us and encourages us to live this way.
Macrina adds:
Blessed are those who are convinced of their basic dependency on God, whose lives are emptied of all that doesn’t matter, those for whom the riches of this world aren’t that important… the Kingdom is theirs.
Blessed are those who know that they are a gift from God and so they can be content with their greatness and their smallness, knowing themselves and being true to themselves… for they shall have the earth for their heritage.
Blessed are those who wear compassion like a garment, those who have learned how to find themselves by losing themselves in another’s sorrow… for they too shall receive comfort.
Blessed are those who are hungry for goodness, those who never get enough of God and truth and righteousness… for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, those who remember how much has been forgiven them, and are able to extend this forgiveness into the lives of others… for they too shall receive God’s mercy.
Blessed are those whose hearts are free and simple, those who have smashed all false images and are seeking honestly for truth… for they shall see God.
Blessed are the creators of peace, those who build roads that unite rather than walls that divide, those who bless the world with the healing power of their presence… for they shall be called friends of God.
Blessed are those whose love has been tried like gold in the furnace and found to be precious, genuine, and lasting, those who have lived their belief out loud, no matter what the cost of pain… for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus the Truth makes all this possible!!