"I am the way." Jesus.

"I am the way."
Jesus.
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Suppose we decide to go to Chennai from Tenkasi by walk, we must know the way there first ,

otherwise we may get lost somewhere.

If we don't know the way

we must ask somebody who knows it.

In our spiritual journey

our starting point is our birth

and destination is heaven.

Being a spiritual journey only God knows the way.

Jesus came to the world  to show us the way.

Jesus said ,

"I am the way;

I am truth and life;

nobody can come to the Father,

except through me." 

So, the way to heaven is Jesus Himself.

What does it mean?

After knowing the way to our destination,

we cannot reach the place by merely sitting on a chair at home

looking at the way  on the Google map.

We must be on the way.

We are on the way to heaven means

we are in Jesus,

who is the way.

'We are in Jesus' can be explained thus:

1.Jesus is God.

God is love.

So, Jesus is love.

So, we must be in love.

Rather, we also must be 'love' like Jesus.

'To be love itself' can be achieved by

'our being in Jesus'

and

'Jesus being in us'.

Love in Love,

that is,

Jesus in us and we in Jesus.

In other words,

by our perfect union with Jesus.

We must be one with Jesus.

We must be able to say with  St. Paul,  "I am alive;

or rather,

not I;

it is Christ that lives in me."

Jesus must be our life.

2. We must live (the life of) Jesus in all respects.

We must love God and our neighbours like Jesus,

we must carry-out the will of our heavenly Father,
like Jesus,

we must serve our neighbours like Jesus,

we must carry our cross like Jesus,

we must sacrifice ourselves for the good of others like Jesus,

we must pray to our heavenly Father like Jesus

and

we must forgive others like Jesus.

We can attain salvation only through  Jesus.

Jesus said, "I am the light."

The sun gives light to the world

directly during the day

and through the moon at night.

The Son is the light of our spiritual way to heaven.

"He who follows me can never walk in darkness; he will possess the light which is life."(John.8:12)

Light shows the things as they are.

To judge an action of ours we must observe it in the light of Jesus.

Are we correct if we love only pious Christians and hate all those who are against Jesus?

From Jesus' point of view,

"No."

"I have not come to call the just;

I have come to call sinners to repentance."(Luke.5:32) 

Jesus Himself came to the world in search of sinners.

How can we, His followers,  dislike them?

In fact we should have close friendship with those

who are against Jesus,

in order to make them

like and love Him

by our exemplary life.

We want to be free from sufferings.

But Jesus has said,

"A man cannot be my disciple unless he takes up his own cross, and follows after me." (Luke.14:27)

We are duty bound to suffer in order to be the disciples of Jesus.

Is it wrong to pray for getting cured from any disease?

No.

Jesus Himself cured many patients during His public life.

As the children of our loving Father we can pray to Him for any favour.

Jesus Himself has said,

"Ask, it shall be given."

But our prayer should be as that of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. 

"Father, he said, if it pleases thee, take away this chalice from before me; only as thy will is, not as mine is."(Luke.22:42)

We must pray,

"Dear Father, kindly cure me of this disease, if it is thy will.

If it is thy will

that I should suffer,

give me the strength

to bear it patiently.

I offer you my sufferings,

together with those of your loving Son,

as amendment for

my sins

and those of the world." 

Jesus has said, "I am life."

Jesus is not merely a life giver,

He Himself is our life.

When we commit a mortal sin,

we become spiritually dead.

The moment we feel sorry for our sin

and confess it,

Jesus forgives it

and enters our soul.

The moment He enters us

we become spiritually alive.

We cannot lead our spiritual life without Jesus in us.

Jesus is not only our life, but also our life giving food.

"55 The man who eats my flesh and drinks my blood enjoys eternal life," (John.6:55)  

Frequent reception of Holy Communion gives life to our spiritual life.

Let us journey

through Jesus,

in His light,

to everlasting life.

Lourdu Selvam.