Book Reflection: Abide Ch. 6
“Unless there is a Good Friday, there can be no Easter Sunday.”
Fulton Sheen
Chapter 6: Jesus the Way
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. 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.”
Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “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 my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14:1-7
If God wants us to live the resurrection life right now, what makes it so challenging for us to do so?
I remember someone telling me that they did not want to get too close to Jesus for fear that life would get much harder. I'm sure the fear stemmed from a past experience, but it made me wonder:
If you did grow close to Jesus, what would you gain?
If you didn’t grow close to Jesus, what would you lose?
If a life with Jesus means a happy life, then we would be happy. If we choose not to be close to Jesus, we would deny ourselves true happiness. It would seem to make sense that not choosing Jesus would not be good for our life or soul, but being human we don’t often make that choice. There is definitely more to lose if we didn’t follow Jesus.
There is a tendency for us to fear going through difficult things like suffering and death instead of seeing them as the path to freedom and new life. We are deceived into thinking that it is better to be safe and avoid suffering rather than take a risk and find fullness of life.
This is the way of Jesus in Matthew 16:24: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?”
If we desire a life of fullness and true happiness, it can only come from God. The path to God involves the cross. But we have to remember that Jesus didn’t carry His cross the whole time; it is just a part of the story and not the end, which is the resurrection. Fr. Mike Schmitz shared in a homily that “our suffering has meaning”. We don’t just suffer to suffer. It will lead us to new life when we take up our cross and follow Him. We don’t have to cycle through the pain and heaviness over and over again. We can learn how to carry it with Jesus, whose burden is light.
Christ is our hope, and He has the power to heal. When we are healed, our stories can become a source of restoration for others. I can attest to this truth. God can bring beauty and purpose out of pain.
ponder
The Paschal Mystery is Jesus’ way of living life to the fullest. Following His path will lead us to that same abundance and new life.
Suffering: “The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ [Jesus] will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little.” (1 Peter 5:10)
Death: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (John 12:24)
Resurrection: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.” (John 11:25)
Where in your life are you experiencing suffering, spiritual death, and resurrection?
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