Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter - 3 May 2026

Most of us know what it is to live with a knot of anxiety somewhere in the chest — about a child, about a diagnosis, about a job, about a world that seems to be losing its bearings. The disciples in the Upper Room knew that knot. The Last Supper was no quiet meal of farewell. Jesus was telling them he was going away, and they did not understand. They were frightened. They were confused. They sensed his arrest and execution were coming. They had not yet experienced Easter. And it is into hearts exactly like theirs — and exactly like ours — that Jesus speaks today's words: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me.”

Jesus seeks to console the troubled hearts of his disciples. Jesus is one who notices, who is concerned — and just as he knew the fears and hurts of his disciples, he knows ours, and he wants healing and peace for us. He wants us to enter into the Easter reality as an antidote to all that confuses and saddens us.

The mood of anxiety and uncertainty of the disciples is epitomised by Thomas and Philip’s words to Jesus. Thomas asks, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way.” Philip says, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” Thomas is filled with doubt and uncertainty with respect to Jesus and what he is saying and teaching. How grateful we can be to Thomas for his honesty. We see that we are not alone in feeling overwhelmed and uncertain.

Thomas’ honest questioning and doubt prompts the gift of greater clarity. His question to Jesus today provokes one of the boldest, audacious statements of all time. Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. Even more astoundingly Jesus goes on to claim to be the human face of the Father. He equates himself with God the Father, saying that to see him is to see the Father and to hear him speak is to hear the Father speak. We should not underestimate the shock that this would have given Jews of Jesus’ time to hear him speaking like this.

The words, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” seem quite clichéd these days. They are too easily quoted without any real understanding. And yet these are amazing words with a significance that goes to the heart of the meaning of our lives. In the seminary when we were studying philosophy, we were taught that the questions are often more instructive than the answers. This is especially true when it comes to Jesus. Jesus is the answer to the fundamental questions of life that we ask as human beings.

The 18th century Prussian philosopher, Immanuel Kant, wrote that all our questions of human reason and speculation combine into three questions: “What can I know? What must I do? What may I hope?” These three questions are at the heart of what it means to be human, and they beg of each one of us to be answered. As human beings we seek meaning and purpose; we want to know who and what we are and what we are to do. You could say we all have to confront Kant’s three questions.

Isn’t it remarkable that Jesus in his words in today’s Gospel responds so perfectly to the three basic questions that Kant says each person must ask and answer. To the question, “What can I know?” Jesus says, “I am the Truth!” To the question, “What must I do?” Jesus says, “I am the Way!” To the question, “What can I hope for?” Jesus says, “I am the Life.”

Jesus is the Truth. There is a hunger in every human being for truth. This longing for truth is part of our spiritual DNA. As the Son of God among us, he is the reference point and yardstick by which all knowledge and truth can be measured. His teaching is the truth about himself, about God, about human beings and the world, and about the meaning of our existence. Knowing by faith calls for a trust on our part — it is rather like the beautiful truth in poetry and literature, or the love between two people. It is deeply true.

Jesus is the Way. He does not say he is a way, or one helpful guide among many. He says he is the Way — for the world, yes, but also for me, personally, and for you, personally. There is no other Saviour for my life. There is no other Saviour for yours. Everything I most need — to be forgiven, to be healed, to be brought home to the Father — comes to me through this Jesus, and through no one else. In the words of St Peter in the second reading, we must set ourselves close to him, and he will lead us to the fulfilment of our lives. A personal relationship with Jesus is the sure way through this confusing world. Whenever we have a doubt, we should ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do in this situation?”

Jesus is the Life. This is what he promises us. He promises us the fullness of life here on earth and eternal life, sharing in God’s life forever in heaven. Knowing we are loved by God and that we live in the light of God’s love brings a joy and a contentment into our daily lives, and today’s Gospel speaks too of the eternal life that Jesus has prepared for us, so that we may be where he is always.

No other religious leader, politician or philosopher has ever made such a bold statement as Jesus goes on to make in the Gospel today. Jesus says, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” We can make one of four deductions about Jesus from this statement. Either Jesus is who he said he was, or he was a madman, or he was a liar, or he was merely a good man.

Now, no one can claim that he was merely a good man with good intentions, because no good man ever made the claims Jesus makes in today’s Gospel. Also, Jesus was not a liar. No liar dies for his lie. What about the option that he was a madman? We can rule that out quickly. No madman could have acted and spoken as Jesus did so consistently. The option that remains, then, is that Jesus is who he said he was. His teaching and his statement in today’s Gospel answer our fundamental questions. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life!

This is not simply academic or theological knowledge. To acknowledge that Jesus is who he says he is calls for a radical response — our lives cannot be the same again. So we come back to where we began — to the knot of anxiety, to the troubled heart. Jesus does not promise us a smooth road. He promises us himself: the Way, the Truth and the Life. And to each of us, by name, he says: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me … No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Let us go to the Father through him. He is the way home. He is enough.