Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A

Last Supper Discourse: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life”

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, May 3, 2026

In the New Testament, the Gospel of John, chapters 13-17, is often called the Last Supper discourse, or the Farewell Discourse, delivered by Jesus to eleven of his disciples right after the Last Supper in Jerusalem, the night before his arrest, trial, condemnation, and crucifixion. Our Gospel passage for this Sunday is the beginning of that discourse. As the Passover meal was underway, Jesus knew he would be betrayed, handed over, tortured, humiliated, and shamefully crucified. He knew he was about to suffer excruciating pain in the most humiliating way possible. Rather than dwelling on self-pity, he began to comfort his Apostles. His first words were, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” What troubles our hearts and minds most today? Research and surveys show that many Americans are worried about the economy, inflation, the high cost of living, rising healthcare costs, the state of our democracy, cultural divisions, immigration, government corruption and dysfunction, substance abuse, etc. Are these issues real? Yes! But look at Jesus. A few hours away from suffering the greatest injustice, he turns to his fearful disciples and says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” What is the Lord saying? Don’t allow the problems of today or tomorrow to rule your life. Stop identifying with them and letting them master your thoughts and choices. Our faith assures us that God is God and is always in control. Your faith should have authority over your feelings. 

The next thing Jesus said is, “In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am, you also may be. Where I am going, you know the way.” Do you know that all those things we customarily fear, those that trouble us and keep us awake at night, have to do with this world? Am I saying we should be oblivious to our material needs? Not at all! Please do not ignore your real needs, your family's needs, and others’. But has your eternal destination ever been a source of concern for you? How many of us have stayed awake at night, thinking about eternity and the life of heaven? We are troubled by economic instability, but are we ever troubled by our spiritual instability? We are worried about the high cost of living, but are we worried about our low religious and spiritual life? You are worried about inflation, but are you worried about your spiritual deflation? Are you worried about losing your passion and motivation for the Lord? You used to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You used to be passionate about the things of God. But now you are simply getting by. As your spiritual aridity, apathy, and loss of connection to your faith continue to deepen, are you troubled by it? We are worried about our physical health and the rising healthcare costs. But are we also worried about the state of our spiritual health and the decreasing time we spend in prayer and attending to our spiritual life? We are worried about cultural division, but what about the division within our spiritual and religious lives? We say one thing and do another. Even in the house of God, we create division along ethnic lines. We are troubled by the immigration policies of this current administration. And I am worried by it too, because from what I have seen so far, it seems this administration has made racial profiling, something that used to be taboo in this country, an immigration policy. But sisters and brothers, do not forget the citizenship that counts more, and that is the citizenship of heaven. In his letter to the Philippians 3:20, the great St. Paul says, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” We are worried and troubled about many things in this world, but let our deepest and most profound worry be about our lives being hidden in Christ, making Jesus the Organizing Principle of our lives, allowing Jesus to rule and reign in our lives, and then spending eternal life with him in heaven. 

Interjecting into Jesus’ extraordinary sermon, Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus replies, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know the Father. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” I tell you, that is one of Jesus’ most consequential lines in the New Testament. In those words, Jesus distinguishes himself from all other religious founders, spiritual, moral, and philosophical teachers and masters. If someone says he is a way, it means there are other ways. If someone says, “I am a truth,” it means there are other truths, and he happens to be one of them. If he says, “I am a life,” it means there are other lives out there. He just happened to be one of them. What Jesus said is, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” He means the only Way and access to God, the only Truth that must be known and lived, and the only life that deserves our entire life. Other religious teachers teach the way, but Jesus says he is the way. Buddha said, “Come not to me, come to my dharma, my doctrine, my teaching.” Jesus says, “Come to me.” Buddha said, “You must be lights unto yourselves.” Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” Jesus is not just a way; he is the way. He says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Buddha said there is a way he discovered and wants you to know about it. Muhammad said he received a revelation and wants you to know it. Confucius said there is a path, a way that he discovered and wants to show you. Then there is Jesus. He said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” The only person who can say such a thing has to be God himself. If Jesus is not the Lord, he would be a liar and a madman, as C. S. Lewis said. But does this mean that non-Christians can’t make heaven? Not at all! The Catholic Church rejects such a position. At the Vatican II Council, the Church affirms that other religions have a “ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.” So if Socrates, Buddha, Gandhi, or Muhammad go to heaven, they do so because of Jesus. He alone is the Way. He alone is the Gate. Through him alone we have access to the Eternal Father. So, give your life to him totally. 

God bless you!