Daily reflection _ we are blessed

WE ARE BLESSED
In following Jesus, we can be sure that we are on the right way, a path that leads to true happiness.
Deacon John Ruscheinsky
At times, famous men and woman are asked to name the most influential person in their lives. The idea behind the question is that usually people do not rise to prominence without the help of some significant person. We may not think of ourselves as prominent, but as a matter of fact, we are very important in God's eyes.
The most influential and significant person in our lives is Jesus Christ. He is our Way, our Truth, and our Life. As Thomas á Kempis says in the Imitation of Christ, "Without the way there is no going, without the truth there is no knowing, and without the life there is no living." But in following Jesus, we can be sure that we are on the right way, a path that leads to true happiness. In embracing the truth, that is Jesus, we are certain that we have the correct understanding of, and approach to, human existence. And by accepting Jesus as the Life, we are made like Him, children of God, favored and beloved by God the Father.
I used to travel frequently by air at my former job, and I think about some of the bigger city airports I have been through. They make a good analogy to a life without Christ. Some airports are confusing, impersonal, and so-called madhouses. Amid thousands of people, I can feel completely lost and alone. It is so large and sprawling that I am lucky to find my way on time to the right place for the departure of my plane. Isn't that a bad feeling? I'm sure we have all felt this at some point in our lives.
Today's final word in the Gospel is a memorable and comforting passage of Scripture: "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life." With Jesus, we are not lost souls amid a large crowd of people that we do not know. Rather, through Him we are in union with an untold number of brothers and sisters in the family of God, the Church. We are all on the same journey with the sure, safe, guidance of Christ Jesus. Filled with the life of Jesus, we are already well on our way to our eternal destiny. Jesus always invites us to trust in God rather than the powers that be. Saint Bernardine, in the fourteenth century, accepted this invitation of the way of Jesus and His truth. He is the Franciscan priest who invented the familiar "IHS" monogram, derived from the first three letters for the Greek name of Jesus. Bernardine didn't except the office of bishop which was offered to him three times. He reminds us there are powers in this world greater than the ones we count on. Bernardine was simply a loving servant of God.
How blessed we are that Jesus Christ is for us the Way, the Truth, and the Life. How blessed we are indeed...