The ancients, or at least many of them, were nomads moving from one place to another. So were most of the Israelites till the time of Christ. Consequently, an essential part of their life was looking for the right way, for the right path to their chosen destination. Jesus naturally uses this same vocabulary in speaking of the moral and religious life.

There are two kinds of conduct, two ways: the good way, and the wrong way. The good way is straight and perfect, consisting in the practice of justice, in fidelity to the truth, in seeking peace. The evil way is crooked, leading the wicked and the sinners to disaster and death. Faced with the two ways, man is free to choose and is accountable for his choice.

Today's Gospel follows Jesus's statement that he is going "where the disciples cannot follow until later". At this point Philip naively asks, in another instance of misunderstanding leading to deeper truth: "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how are we to know the way?"

Jesus said to him: "I am the way, the truth and the life, nobody can come to the Father except through me!" These are themes that permeate the Gospel and have culminated when Pilate stands before Jesus and says: "What is truth?"

We Christians are wayfarers and the ultimate goal of our journey is Heaven. Jesus in his humanity has walked the way leading to his glory, but not before suffering and dying on the Cross. As our faith tells us, that should be our model too.

We are born, we walk along the paths of life and we often enjoy it, we suffer pain and frustration, until we have reached our ultimate goal, which is Heaven. In our case as Christians this way is not a law, but a person: Jesus Christ. In him occur the Passover and the Exodus of the Christian, following the way of love.

Applying all the above to ourselves, it becomes obvious that we should ask ourselves: "Am I as a Christian following the way of Christ, accepting his teachings, which are laid down for me in the books of Holy Scripture and in the teachings of the Church?"

Am I perhaps hesitant or at times doubtful in this matter? Am I interested in learning more about Christ's teachings and in the Church's pronouncements about my Christian faith in general or on specific matters of faith and morality?

In the Gospel of St Matthew we hear Jesus exhorting his disciples in these words: "Let your light shine so brightly before men that they can see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." As the old proverb says, "Words may attract, but example draws!"

Vatican II teaches that no one as Christian is excluded from the duty of showing the right way to all around him: his family, his fellow workers, his friends. If we examine ourselves a little more closely, we are bound to discover that at times we have failed to do our duty as Christians: not only by not showing others the right way, but, which is worse, by drawing them by word and deed to follow the wrong path as far as our Christian behaviour is concerned.

While we thank the Lord for living and dying for us, we thank him today for showing us the true way to eternal salvation, but also for helping us to associate ourselves with his project of universal salvation, making of us powerful beacons showing the right way to others, the way that leads to eternal life.