Today over 9000 members of the Pauline Family celebrate the Solemnity of Jesus, the Divine Master. In the celebration of the Mass and in eucharistic adoration, we come to Jesus who is our way, our truth, and our life, to listen to his Word and receive his Body and Blood, that we might live in him and become bread broken for the life of the world.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus says of himself, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6).
I ask myself: What does this mean to me as a person? How can Jesus be my Way, Truth, and Life?
As a consecrated religious with the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master (PDDM), living the Pauline spirituality, I continually learn how Jesus’ Way, Truth, and Life corresponds to my whole person; it is an invitation to submit my mind, heart, and will—indeed my whole being—to Christ. There is peace, joy, and freedom in conforming myself to him instead of following my own waywardness, choosing my own reasoning and way of behaving. Jesus, the Divine Master, teaches me how.
My mind is enlightened and renewed by the Truth of Christ found in his teachings in Sacred Scripture and in the Church as they guide my thoughts and faculty of reason. As Saint Paul exhorted the Romans, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
My heart with all its affections, feelings, and emotions corresponds to the Life of Jesus poured out in love for God and humanity to the point of sacrificing himself. From this flows my life of prayer, offering up my joys, sorrows, and actions—even the most mundane—for the needs of others and, ultimately, for the salvation of souls. Contemplating the life of Christ in his relationship with his Father and disciples and in his compassion for everyone helps me to examine my own heart: how much of my ego is in it? How much of God’s grace have I allowed to transform it?
My will is related to Jesus’ Way as it follows his example. His prayer to the Father, “Not my will but thine be done,” is the model for me to emulate. It may be difficult and at times the hardest thing to do, since God’s thoughts and ways are different from ours (see Isaiah 55:8-9), but trusting and surrendering myself to the will of God is the sure path to abiding peace and joy. Sometimes, his will is mysterious. Discerning God’s will calls for prayer, immersing oneself in his Word and the sacraments, and seeking spiritual direction.
Conforming one’s mind, heart, and will to the Way, Truth, and Life of Jesus Christ is an invitation for all and not just for those called to the priesthood or religious life. Jesus said, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Indeed, we can have an abundant life the more we yield our whole being to him and become more like him in mind, heart, and will. And with our own lives we can echo the words of Saint Paul to the Galatians, “Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
