The Gospel according to St. John has a clever manner of revealing to us the personalities of the apostles. Simon Peter is clearly called to be the first among equals, but Jesus has to almost spiritually drag the apostle to conversion through reconciliation. Jesus is firm with him and the rest, but always patient and merciful.
 
Today, we hear of the hardheadedness of two other apostles, Thomas and Philip. Once again, Jesus doesn’t give up on them. St. John means for us to recognize ourselves and the truth of hope in our own human frailties; indeed, hope of transformation in Christ.
 
Jesus boldly declares, “Where I am going, you know the way….. I am the way and the truth and the life.” Such declarations are made with clear confidence, not only in himself, but also in us.
 
Thomas and Philip do not seem to get it and so seek to clarify what Jesus means. However, you can easily pick up that their idea is that of a static, fixed sort of “way;” that’s not a way, but a route. Christ has a different perspective. He teaches us a living, dynamic path; in fact, he is the way, and not a route. In truth, Christ is more than just a path, he is the living way.
 
Following the insights of St. Thomas Aquinas, Bishop Robert Barron writes, “In saying that he is the way, Jesus is signaling his full humanity. For the human nature of the Lord is indeed the means by which a disciple is led to union with God.” The Incarnation of our Lord Jesus is the pathway into God. Bishop Barron continues, “But by insisting, at the same time, he is the truth and the life, Jesus indicates his full divinity.”
 
Here we not only have the correct understanding of the fullness of Jesus Christ, we also have more than enough to occupy us in our seeking a full life. Jesus is our destination as well as the means and the course to get there. But, what is the application to our lives or how are we to do something with it?
 
Well, life stands ahead of all of us as a journey to be made or traveled. You can say the journey is nothing new; we have been living it. Christ is with us, have we noticed? While the future has yet to become the present, we have in him the hope to get there.
 
After years of searching in all the wrong places and endeavors, St. Augustine finally encountered God, not always “out there,” but somewhere more intimate. In his Confessions, Augustine directs his quest to God, “Late have I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you… You were with me, but I was not with you.”
 
Christ lies ahead of us, but he is always near to us. Knowledge of his presence occurs in the measure that we have received his mercy in our lives and understand it not only as his gift, but as a rule of life. God’s mercy can change your life; try living it.  
 
In his apostolic letter, Misericordia et Misera, Pope Francis writes: “Once mercy has been truly experienced, it is impossible to turn back. It grows constantly and it changes our lives. It is an authentic new creation: it brings about a new heart, capable of loving to the full, and it purifies our eyes to perceive hidden needs.”
 
Once you have tasted the sweetness of God’s mercy, there is no turning back; you have found the way and know the source and destination. That’s what it means to know the way and follow it …or, better said, follow him who is the way.
 
Love charts the course and Christ is love in person. There are many unknowns, many twists and turns along the way in life; but there is a known – Christ – who not only shows us the path, but we walk it through Him, with Him and in Him.
 
When we commit ourselves to love as he teaches us, there is never a danger of getting lost. We will find ourselves, our neighbor and Christ, because first, he has always held us close.