by Fr. Tommy Lane
I have sometimes been surprised that some people who are living a life of prayer and good works are afraid of judgment in the next life. Surely, we could find no more merciful judge than Jesus. Since Jesus gave his life for you, why would you be afraid to meet him at your judgment? At the end of Romans 8 (Rom 8:31-39), Paul describes a scene that to my mind looks like a judgment scene and Paul says Jesus is pleading for us at the right side of the Father. There is another one to help you also: Our Lady. She has been your spiritual mother all your life, would not let you down at that time. This is a quotation from St. John Vianney: “Only after the last judgment will Mary get any rest; from now until then, she is much too busy with her children.” Until after the last judgment, Our Lady will be busy with you. Also in our Gospel today, there are reassuring words from Jesus:
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. (John 14:1-3)
How do we get to one of those rooms in the Father’s house? Jesus told us how; he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Jesus is the way; he is to be the foundation of our lives. At first Christians called themselves followers of “Way of the Lord” (Acts 18:25) or simply followers of “the Way.” (Acts 9:2; 18:26; 19:9. 23; 24:14, 22) Later they began to call themselves Christians (Acts 11:26). How do we live the Way of Jesus? At the end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, we hear Jesus say, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.” (Matt 7:24-25) Jesus is the way to the Father, so his words are the foundation for our lives. If we do not build our lives on Jesus, we have a weak foundation.
Jesus said he is the truth. What does this mean for us? Earlier in this Gospel, Jesus said, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) Anyone seeking to be free from darkness of any kind, free from any kind of imprisonment in negativity, can turn to Jesus for help. He is the one who helps us understand who we are in the eyes of God. He is the one who shows us our how precious we are because he died to liberate us from sin. Standing before Pilate, Jesus said, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37) If Jesus and his words and teaching are excluded in any way, then the truth is excluded because everyone who belongs to the truth listens to the voice of Jesus. Jesus is the one who liberates us, not only by giving his life in exchange for our sins but also by his teaching, for example, when he told us that when we return to God after being away, there is great joy in heaven—“there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.” (Luke 15:7) Jesus is the truth who sets us free from the past to live his new life.
Jesus is the life. Those who met Jesus had a new life afterwards. In Mark 1 we read that Jesus cured a man with a skin disease, often called leprosy. People with that condition had to live outside their town in a quarantine of sorts. When Jesus cured the man with leprosy, he could live with his family again and worship with his community. Jesus restored him, giving him new life. A hemorrhaging woman was healed by touching Jesus’ cloak (Luke 8:43-48). Because of her condition, she could not have worshipped with her community or in the temple for the twelve years she was ill. So when she was healed by touching Jesus’ cloak, not only was she physically healed, but healed in every way—socially, psychologically, and spiritually. Jesus made it known publicly that she had been healed so everyone knew she could worship with them again, that she could socialize with them again, and if she were young and married, she could have children. Jesus completely changed her life, giving her a new life again. We cannot reach out to touch Jesus’ cloak but in John 6 we read these words from Jesus about the Eucharist: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. (John 6:53-55) And we also read, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (John 6:56). So the Eucharist is central. If our lives do not revolve around the Eucharist, can we really say we are on the Way of the Lord?
Jesus is the way. When we make his words the foundation of our lives we are on a sure foundation. He is the truth who liberates us. He is the life who restores people in every way possible. So when thinking about judgment in the next life, surely we could have no one more merciful to represent us before the Father than Jesus. And Our Lady is not resting. She is busy with us.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2023
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
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