To know Jesus is different from simply knowing about the Lord. To know about Jesus is more than an academic exercise. To know the Lord is a matter of constant conversion and turning to the Lord in the very depths of our hearts.
To know the Lord is to confess in our innermost being that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We come to know Jesus through our understanding of the Gospel passages, through the sacred texts of the New Testament, through those who have known Him throughout history—namely the saints—and through the teachings of our faith community, the Church.
As I have said time and again, the saints are not just statues who lived long ago. The saints, through their lives and writings, gave witness to Christ, and they have much to tell us about faith. Looking at the faith of parents and grandparents, and learning from them how important Jesus is to them, is another way to come to know Jesus.
Jesus Is the Way
For the disciple, Jesus is the Way to the Father. Jesus is the way of how to live here and now. Jesus is the way through darkness, confusion, and fear.
In the first reading for Sunday’s liturgy, the early Christian community is struggling with newcomers, prejudice, and change. How is Jesus the Way through their communal problem? Do we not have similar issues? In prayer, how do we discern which way to go with our fear and our unknowing?
Jesus Is the Truth
For the person of faith, Jesus is the Truth. Christ is the truth that can set us free from fear. Christ is the Truth about who God is. In this truth, we are reminded that we are made for God, and anyone or anything else will not satisfy us.
Christ is the mind of God. In Christ, we are called to face the truth, as difficult as this may be, and be freed by it. The woman at the well (Jn 4) faced the truth about herself and was freed. Can we say that Jesus is the Truth we long to hear?
Jesus Is the Life
In John 10, we read, “I came that they may have life, and life in abundance.” Jesus is the Life. In God, there does not exist death; all are alive for God.
If Jesus is our life, then eternal life has already started, and in our growth in the Spirit, we nourish the eternal life in us which began at our baptism. This leads us to say with St. Paul, “For me, life is Christ.”
Living in Christ
To live in Christ is to live in freedom, to lessen our fear, and to increase our love and mercy for one another.
Msgr. Guy A. Massie
May 3, 2026
Sunday Readings
