
One of the big milestones in a baby’s mental development is the ability to understand sequences. First this, then that. After I eat, my hands get washed. When I hit this toy, it swings. If I smile at my mom she will smile back. Eventually, longer and more complicated sequences are understood and trusted to function consistently.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus proposes a new sequence to the apostles and challenges them to take their faith to the next level. He leads them along a logical line of thinking which draws their attention to the ultimate goal of Jesus’ mission: heaven and union with God. He starts with their collective faith in God the Father and draws them into His new trajectory for belief. This new perspective is grounded in trust and some very basic questions of faith: Do you trust God? If you trust God, trust me. Do you trust me and my words? Then don’t worry about what is going to come or where we are going.
How quickly we forget to trust in God and not in ourselves. We shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves however, because St. Thomas has already beat us in that respect. He heard the words of Jesus first hand, and in his own way, demonstrates a lack of trust by asking Jesus how they can know the way if they don’t know where they are going. We always want to know where we are going. Thanks to the map apps on our phones we usually know exactly where to turn and when. The point isn’t usually the journey, it’s the conclusion.
In a beautiful way, Jesus’ logic highlights both the journey and the destination as important considerations for our faith. The goal, or destination, is union with the Father. The way to the Father is union with the Son. Jesus is the way to the Father, and He is also one with the Father. So, both the journey and the destination are intimately united.
In order to enter into this journey/destination dynamic, we have to trust the logic of Christ. We have to let go of our desire to control the journey of life, of where we think we want to go. If we allow Jesus to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life, then we have, in a certain sense, already found our destination. We can move through life with a peace and a joy that isn’t rooted in the passing circumstances of our situation.
The logic of Jesus may seem counterintuitive to the logic of the world. But as people of faith we know we can trust that by following wherever Jesus leads we will always discover the way to the Father.
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Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
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