Take courage, I have conquered the world.

By Fr. Alfonse

Jn 16:29-33 Christ’s Story

The disciples said to Jesus, “We believe that you came from God.”  Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?  Behold, the hour is coming when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone.  I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.  In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”   

The emergency line rang early in the morning on Wednesday.  I could barely understand what was being said to me.  It was the voice of a woman, but in between cries and sighs, she was telling me that her father was passing away.  She wanted him to receive the anointing of the sick.  I got out of my bed and rushed to get there.  What I saw was absolutely beautiful.

His bedroom was crowded with people; most of them young.  They were all waiting for me.  They had gathered inside his room, around his bed.  I counted six young people, three older women, and an older gentleman.  Each of them were holding or touching something:  a hand, an arm, the forehead, his side, his leg.  They were all crying.  He had come to this country with very little and, by the looks of his home, he was leaving behind very little.  But then I remembered the cars that were parked outside the home:  a BMW, a Mercedes and a Lexus.  

I asked them who they were. “I’m his wife”, said one.  “I’m his mother.”  “I’m his sister.”  Then the six young people around his bed said they were his children.  They were all a mess.  Like the phone call this morning, they could barely talk.  They were busy wiping their eyes, blowing their nose, looking away.  I told them, “You really love your father.”  They all nodded in agreement.  They told me that he had worked like an animal all his life and when he was finally able to retire, cancer struck.  They said that they grew up with very little, but had it all.  While other kids had a pool in the back of their home, he would take the hose and water them down.  When they went to school, they didn’t have the fancy stuff that most had but they always had pens, paper and dictionary in hand.  The other kids, who had it all, would always borrow a pen or a piece of paper from them.  It was funny.  They dressed well but didn’t have any school supplies.  We thought they were the poor kids.  Only later did they realize what they had and what most others did not have:  a family; a father that loved them and would die for them.

And die he did.  He gave his life for them.  

He had raised his children well.  They were proud of their dad.  Without him they would never have been the very successful people they are today.  They understand that; they always did.  And they had promised him that they would repeat it in their lives as well.  He loved them to death.  He gave them the best.  He got them through life as far as he could with his knuckles and knees.  He taught them what really mattered:  God, family and love.  He never asked for anything in return except that they give their best to God and that they love one another.

This story is repeated often, but not often enough.  Our story can be the story of His story which is The Only Story; the story that goes like this:  Beaten and rejected, He conquered the world through love.  

The Lord told his disciples, “In the world you will have trouble.”  Yes.  How true it is!  We all know this is true.  No proof is required for I will feel the weight of the world upon my shoulders; I will feel the incredible burden of responsibility upon my very knees; I know I am surrounded by troubles.  My victories are bittersweet.  Tears are shed far too often.  My fears and doubts must be confronted; sometimes one at a time, sometimes all at once.  I must erase pain of recent memories.  I must drive Loneliness out of my life.  But if I can persevere in love, then I shall conquer it all.  Love conquers all things because God is love and God conquers all things, even death itself.  

I can do this.  I can do this too because I was made to love and I can drive love through all things.  

Take courage. I have told you this so that you might have peace in Him.

A Reflection on Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day began with a simple domestic gesture that caught on. People were encouraged to give a present to their mothers to acknowledge their love and their service to their family. As is the case with similar celebrations it could easily be corrupted by commercial interests that focused on selling gifts and often offered a saccharine view of motherhood. It was a day when people could feel sentimental about their mothers without asking themselves whether what they expected of them was reasonable and how they themselves might share some of their mother’s burdens. The Mother’s Day present could become a cheap discharge of a heavy debt.

The last years of COVID pushed us to think more seriously about our relationships, including the part of mothers in families. The media have been full of images of mothers left to cope with difficult situations both for themselves and for their families. We have seen the long lines of women and children seeking safety outside of Ukraine. These mothers must feed and raise their children while dealing with their own anxieties and grief for their land, for the men whom they have left behind and for their future. We have also seen the images of mothers surveying their flooded homes in Queensland and New South Wales, facing the task of again making a home for their family. During the time of coronavirus, too, many of the health workers were mothers who had to cope with the loss of paid work and the threat of homelessness in addition to the other trials in an already precarious life.

In all these situations, however, the dominant images have not been of hopelessness but of great resilience, of people finding the necessary inner resources in times of anxiety and threat. They look to the future and not to the past.

The images of heroic mothers, like the images of women in responsible positions in employment and in public life, are a gift to our society. For those of us who are not mothers, however, they can prove sentimental and self-serving. They can distract us from the unacceptability of the burden we ask mothers to carry and offer us an excuse us or not asking what kind of society we want to build and what sacrifices that will ask of us.

Mother’s Day reminds us of the importance for any society of mothering – of giving priority and time to raising children and making a home in which all are valued and all are listened to compassionately. In modern societies in which mothers are also engaged in demanding work the gifts and the time involved in these forms of nurturing cannot be left to women who have borne children but must be encouraged and developed in men, women and children.

Mothering also crosses generations. Grandmothers are an integral part of the life of most families. They are honoured not simply because of their past role as mothers but for the way in which they continue to nurture people in the present.

If mothering is necessary in society, too, we must look at how we support mothers. Many women in the most important work for society such as working in nursing homes are kept in precarious and poorly remunerated work. Our society can be better than that in its treatment of all women including mothers.

Source: Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ Reflection. Jesuit Communications and Jesuit Social Services. Posted at Catholic Outlook

Taken up into heaven

The celebration of the Ascension used to leave me a bit flat.  It was clear what Good Friday did for me.  And Easter Sunday’s benefits were indisputable.  But as for the Ascension, what’s in it for me?

Christianity is about a kind of love we call agape or charity.  It is love that looks away from itself to another and gives itself away for another.  The Divine Word did not become man or endure the cross because something was in it for Him.

Charity shares in the beloved’s joys and sorrows (Jn 14:28).  The first thing to remember about the Ascension is that it is about sharing in Jesus’ joy.  It is about celebrating his return to the heavenly glory to which he refused to cling (Phil 2:6-11).  It is about rejoicing that his crown of thorns has been replaced with the kingly crown, that the mocking crowd at Calvary has been replaced with myriads of adoring angels.  The Ascension is about Jesus’s triumph and glorification. If we get our attention off ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit’s love of the Son to animate our souls, we’ll experience greater joy than when we see our child hit a home run or graduate from college.

But the Ascension is not just about charity.  It is also a feast of hope.  Yes, there is something in it for us.  He goes to prepare a place for us (Jn 14:2).  We will also one day wear crowns made of gold instead of thorns.

For us to endure until that blessed moment, we need divine power.  That’s another reason we ought to rejoice in his Ascension.  He takes his place at God’s right hand so that he can pour out the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, upon his disciples (Eph 4:10).

As he ascends, he tells the disciples to wait for this power.  But notice that he does not tell them to wait passively for the rapture.  He does not instruct them to pour over Bible prophecies, debating about how and when he will return.  In fact in Acts 1:11, after the Lord ascends out of their sight, the angels ask why the disciples just stand there, staring into space.

The waiting is not to be a squandering of precious time.  It is waiting for a purpose, nine days of prayer (the first novena!) leading to empowerment.  Why empowerment?  Because they have challenging work to do.  “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”   (Matt 28: 16-20).

We used to think that evangelization was something that happened in mission countries far away, carried out by priests and religious.  But the Second Vatican Council told us that our own neighborhoods are mission territory, and that every single Catholic is called to be an evangelist.  Pope John Paul II proclaimed this as the “New Evangelization” because the place is new–right next door–and the missionaries are new since they include all us all.

I’m really not sure that St. Francis of Assisi ever said “Preach the Gospel always; when necessary, use words.”  But if he did, note this–Francis often thought it very necessary to use words.  His words could be heard in marketplaces, on street-corners, in Churches, wherever there were people.  Of course, preaching without an authentic witness of life is certainly counterproductive.  But forget about the idea that just the witness of our lives is enough.  It is not.  You may not called to preach on street corners, but Vatican II and subsequent popes, echoing 1 Pet 3:15, say that we all must be ready  to articulate what Jesus has done for us, what he means to us, and why he is the answer to the world’s problems.

Feel inadequate to the task? You’re in good company. Benedict XVI’s first public statement was an admission of his inadequacy. Do as he did–pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to move in and through you, and take the time to keep learning more about your faith so that you can share it with ever greater confidence.

Source: Catholic Lane

How to get what you prayed for

1) Opening prayer

Lord God, merciful Father,

it is hard for us to accept pain,

for we know that You have made us

for happiness and joy.

When suffering challenges us

with a provocative “why me?”

help us to discover the depth

of our inner freedom and love

and of all the faith and loyalty

of which we are capable,

together with, and by the power of,

Jesus Christ our Lord.

2) Gospel Reading – John 16:23b-28

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. “I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

3) Reflection

• John 16:23b: The disciples have full access to the Father. This is the assurance that Jesus gives to His disciples: they can have access to God’s fatherhood in union with Him.  Jesus’ mediation takes the disciples to the Father. Clearly, the role of Jesus is not that of substituting Himself for “His own.”  He does not assume it by means of a function of intercession, but He unites them to Himself, and in communion with Him they present their needs.

The disciples are certain that Jesus can access the riches of the Father: “In all truth I tell you, anything you ask from the Father in My name, He will grant it to you” (v.23b). In such a way, it means, in union with Him, the petition becomes effective. The object of any petition to the Father must always be joined to Jesus, that is to say, to His love and to His commitment to give His life for man (Jn 10:10). Prayer addressed to the Father, in the name of Jesus, in union with Him (Jn 14:13; 16:23), is heard.

Until now they have not asked anything in the name of Jesus, but they will be able to do it after His glorification (Jn 14:13) when they will receive the Spirit who will fully enlighten them on His identity (Jn 4, 22ff) and will create the union with Him. His own will be able to ask and receive the fullness of joy when they will go from the sensory vision of Him to that of faith.

• Jn 16:24-25: In Jesus the direct contact with the Father. The believers are taken into the relationship between the Son and the Father. In Jn 16:26 Jesus once again speaks about the link produced by the Spirit that permits His own to present every petition to the Father in union with Him. That will take place “on that day.” What does this mean: “On that day you will ask”? It is the day when He will come to His own and will transmit the Spirit to them (Jn 20:19,22). It is then that the disciples, knowing the relationship between Jesus and the Father, will know that they will be listened to. It will not be necessary for Jesus to intervene between the Father and the disciples to ask on their behalf, not because His mediation has ended, but they, having believed in the Incarnation of the Word, and being closely united to Christ, will be loved by the Father as He loves His Son (Jn 17:23,26). In Jesus the disciples experience direct contact with the Father.

• John 16:26-27: The prayer to the Father. To pray consists, then, in going to the Father through Jesus; to address the Father in the name of Jesus. The expression of Jesus in vv. 26-27, “And I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you; because the Father Himself loves you”, deserves special attention. The love of the Father for the disciples is founded on the adherence of “His own” to Jesus on faith in His provenance, the acknowledgment of Jesus as gift of the Father.

After having gathered the disciples to Himself Jesus seems to withdraw from His role of mediator, but in reality He permits that the Father take us and seize us: “Ask and you will receive and so your joy will be complete” (v.24). Inserted into the relationship with the Father through union in Him, our joy is complete and prayer is perfect. God always offers His love to the whole world, but such a love acquires the sense of reciprocity only if man responds. Love is incomplete if it does not become reciprocal: as long as man does not accept,  it remains in suspense. However, the disciples accept it at the moment in which they love Jesus and thus they render operational the love of the Father. Prayer is this relationship of love. In the end the history of each one of us is identified with the history of His prayer, even at the moments which do not seem to be such.  Longing, yearning is already prayer and in the same way, searching, anguish…

4) Personal questions

• Does my personal and community prayer take place in a state of calmness, silence, and great peace?

• How much effort or commitment do I dedicate to growing in friendship with Jesus? Are you convinced of attaining a real identity through communion with Him and in the love for neighbor?

• How do I view my union with Jesus, reflecting on Song of Songs 2:16, “My beloved is mine, and I am his” ?

• Do I pray in union with Jesus, or with my own ideas and agenda?

5) Concluding Prayer

God reigns over the nations,

seated on His holy throne.

The leaders of the nations rally

to the people of the God of Abraham. (Ps 47:8-9)

Source: Carmelites Lectio Divina

How to get what you prayed for

1) Opening prayer

Lord God, merciful Father,

it is hard for us to accept pain,

for we know that You have made us

for happiness and joy.

When suffering challenges us

with a provocative “why me?”

help us to discover the depth

of our inner freedom and love

and of all the faith and loyalty

of which we are capable,

together with, and by the power of,

Jesus Christ our Lord.

2) Gospel Reading – John 16:23b-28

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. “I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

3) Reflection

• John 16:23b: The disciples have full access to the Father. This is the assurance that Jesus gives to His disciples: they can have access to God’s fatherhood in union with Him.  Jesus’ mediation takes the disciples to the Father. Clearly, the role of Jesus is not that of substituting Himself for “His own.”  He does not assume it by means of a function of intercession, but He unites them to Himself, and in communion with Him they present their needs.

The disciples are certain that Jesus can access the riches of the Father: “In all truth I tell you, anything you ask from the Father in My name, He will grant it to you” (v.23b). In such a way, it means, in union with Him, the petition becomes effective. The object of any petition to the Father must always be joined to Jesus, that is to say, to His love and to His commitment to give His life for man (Jn 10:10). Prayer addressed to the Father, in the name of Jesus, in union with Him (Jn 14:13; 16:23), is heard.

Until now they have not asked anything in the name of Jesus, but they will be able to do it after His glorification (Jn 14:13) when they will receive the Spirit who will fully enlighten them on His identity (Jn 4, 22ff) and will create the union with Him. His own will be able to ask and receive the fullness of joy when they will go from the sensory vision of Him to that of faith.

• Jn 16:24-25: In Jesus the direct contact with the Father. The believers are taken into the relationship between the Son and the Father. In Jn 16:26 Jesus once again speaks about the link produced by the Spirit that permits His own to present every petition to the Father in union with Him. That will take place “on that day.” What does this mean: “On that day you will ask”? It is the day when He will come to His own and will transmit the Spirit to them (Jn 20:19,22). It is then that the disciples, knowing the relationship between Jesus and the Father, will know that they will be listened to. It will not be necessary for Jesus to intervene between the Father and the disciples to ask on their behalf, not because His mediation has ended, but they, having believed in the Incarnation of the Word, and being closely united to Christ, will be loved by the Father as He loves His Son (Jn 17:23,26). In Jesus the disciples experience direct contact with the Father.

• John 16:26-27: The prayer to the Father. To pray consists, then, in going to the Father through Jesus; to address the Father in the name of Jesus. The expression of Jesus in vv. 26-27, “And I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you; because the Father Himself loves you”, deserves special attention. The love of the Father for the disciples is founded on the adherence of “His own” to Jesus on faith in His provenance, the acknowledgment of Jesus as gift of the Father.

After having gathered the disciples to Himself Jesus seems to withdraw from His role of mediator, but in reality He permits that the Father take us and seize us: “Ask and you will receive and so your joy will be complete” (v.24). Inserted into the relationship with the Father through union in Him, our joy is complete and prayer is perfect. God always offers His love to the whole world, but such a love acquires the sense of reciprocity only if man responds. Love is incomplete if it does not become reciprocal: as long as man does not accept,  it remains in suspense. However, the disciples accept it at the moment in which they love Jesus and thus they render operational the love of the Father. Prayer is this relationship of love. In the end the history of each one of us is identified with the history of His prayer, even at the moments which do not seem to be such.  Longing, yearning is already prayer and in the same way, searching, anguish…

4) Personal questions

• Does my personal and community prayer take place in a state of calmness, silence, and great peace?

• How much effort or commitment do I dedicate to growing in friendship with Jesus? Are you convinced of attaining a real identity through communion with Him and in the love for neighbor?

• How do I view my union with Jesus, reflecting on Song of Songs 2:16, “My beloved is mine, and I am his” ?

• Do I pray in union with Jesus, or with my own ideas and agenda?

5) Concluding Prayer

God reigns over the nations,

seated on His holy throne.

The leaders of the nations rally

to the people of the God of Abraham. (Ps 47:8-9)

Source: Carmelites Lectio Divina

When the enemy speaks

The command “Get behind me, Satan,” spoken to Peter by Jesus, is recorded in Matthew 16:23 and Mark 8:33. “Get behind me, Satan” seems harsh and out of character for Jesus, especially when addressing Peter, one of His most devout disciples. Why did Jesus say this? What was it Peter did to deserve such a rebuke? Without knowing it, Peter was speaking for Satan.

Jesus had just revealed to His disciples for the first time the plan: He was to go to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and be raised to life (Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31). Contrary to their expectations of Him, Jesus explained that He had not come to establish an earthly Messianic kingdom at that time. The disciples were not prepared for this new revelation of the Messiah’s purpose. Though Peter understood His words, he simply could not reconcile his view of the conquering Messiah with the suffering and death Jesus spoke of. So Peter “began to rebuke Him” for having such a fatalistic mindset. 

Unwittingly, Peter was speaking for Satan. Like Jesus’ adversary, Peter was not setting his mind on the things of God—His ways, His plans, and His purposes (Colossians 3:2; Isaiah 55:8-9). Instead, his mind was set on the things of man, the things of the world and its earthly values. Jesus was saying that the way of the cross was God’s will, the plan of redemption for all mankind. Peter’s reaction was most likely shared by the other disciples although, as always, it was Peter who spoke first. Peter was inadvertently being used of Satan in thinking he was protecting Jesus. Satan had purposely tempted Jesus in the wilderness to divert Him from the cross, from fulfilling the grand design of the Father and the Son (Mark 1:12-13). Innocently, Peter was doing the same thing. He had not yet grasped Jesus’ true Messianic purpose. 

Although Peter had just moments before declared Jesus as the Christ, he turned from God’s perspective and viewed the situation from man’s perspective, which brought about the stern rebuke: “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus went on to explain: “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (Mark 8:33). 

At the time, Jesus’ stern reprimand did not make sense to Peter. However, Jesus’ indictment presents a profound message for us. We can easily see that Peter had the wrong perspective of God’s plan for Christ’s suffering and death. But we must also see how easily we can become an unwitting spokesperson for Satan. This is especially true when we lose sight of God’s plan for us. This comes about when our focus is on our careers, our possessions, our security, and the things of the world rather than upon sacrifice and service and the proclaiming of God’s message. When Peter’s focus shifted to his own desires and plans, Jesus rebuked him in order to get him back on track. May our focus always be on God and His plans, that we may never experience a similar rebuke from our Lord.

Source: Got Questions

Let the dead bury the dead

Jesus said, “Let the dead bury the dead,” in response to a disciple who wanted to spend time at home before committing himself to the Lord. Jesus said, “‘Follow me.’ But the man replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:59–60). This man may have wanted to fulfill the oldest son’s duty to bury the father, to be near the father in order to obtain an inheritance, or to remain near the body of his father for up to one year to rebury the bones, a practice of some Jews at the time. In any event, Jesus’ answer makes clear that this request would have involved putting tradition or the disciple’s own desires ahead of serving Jesus.

But who are “the dead” whom Jesus referred to as being the ones to bury their own dead? The word dead is used in this passage in two different senses. It is apparently a paradox and is used very effectively. The Jews used the word dead often to express indifference toward a thing or to express that something has no influence over us. To be dead to the law (Romans 7:4), to be dead to sin (Romans 6:11), means that the law and sin have no influence or control over us. We are free from them and act as though they are not.

So people of the world are dead to Christ. They do not see His beauty, nor do they hear His voice or desire to follow Him. Only His “sheep” will do those things (John 10:27). The people of the world are those whom the Savior describes here as the (spiritually) dead who should bury the (physically) dead. Let people, He says, who are not interested in My work, and who are “dead in sin” (Ephesians 2:1), take care of the dead. Your duty is now to follow Me.

While Scripture, and Jesus, are clear that we are to honor our parents (Ephesians 6:2), we have to understand that Jesus is to come first, and this would have been especially so in this instance, that is, with a direct command from the Lord. Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew recognized the Lord and followed Him at once (Matthew 4:18–22; 9:9). The thing to which the man who wanted to bury his father was called was of more importance than any earthly consideration, and, for that time, Christ chose to require of the man a very extraordinary sacrifice to show his sincere attachment to Him.

As regards the people of the world, nothing is more important than responding to the gospel. This requires that the gospel be preached (Romans 10:14), so once we make the decision to follow Jesus and preach His good news, we must deny dead, worldly pursuits and comforts, and do the Lord’s work. Jesus wants followers, not professors, and those who are spiritually alive will be instruments in the Lord’s hands to call others to new life in Christ.

Source: Got Questions

The Spirit of Joy

Jn 16:20-23 The Spirit of Joy

“Amen. Amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

Reflection by Fr. Alfonse

In Sacred Scripture the word happiness is almost never used.I remember reading long ago happiness rather than blessedfor the Beatitudes and it was quickly removed in a later edition. There is a huge difference between the two:happiness may be pursued but joy comes as a surprise.Happiness is of man’s doing. Joy comes from the Holy Spirit.

Yesterday I celebrated a funeral Mass for a woman who had been married for forty-six years. Her husband and two children were in the front row and in pain at the loss of their beloved mother. She was young, only sixty-five years old.What do you say? What can anyone say? At times like these, we can only turn to the Lord and to His Word. Is it possible that the grief we experience today will one day turn to joy?The Apostles could no longer bear to hear Christ speak. He had so much more to tell them but his words were like daggers in their hearts. All the Lord’s men felt anxiety, fear and sadness at what the Lord was telling them. He would be leaving them; taken away and would not be returning to them until the appropriate moment. Why does this have to happen?Why do bad things have to happen to good people, even to the Lord? Today’s responsorial psalm reminds us: “God is King of all the earth!” (Ps 47:8a)

The Lord directs life and death; our take off and our landing; our arrival and our departure. He is the King, the Master of the Universe and of my life. He is King of the gigantic and of the tiny; the insignificant and the significant; the coincidence and the planned. We are here because He wants us here now, today. We will be gone, when our time has arrived – not a day longer or shorter.

I have found tremendous joy in thinking about all the people that have come and gone in my life. Think of all the people – past or present, dead or alive – that inspired you, pushed you and maybe even embarrassed you to get the best out of you!Life is so similar to the sea. We have high moments like tidal waves, thrilling and chilling. We have low moments like low tide or like the calm before the tsunami! Like the sea, we are constantly preparing for the next moment. We seem to get up and get out of bed only when we have to. If it were not for exams, we would learn less. Tough times lead to tough decisions that lead to heart felt decisions and amazing results!

The Lord will be with his friends, always. We will all meet again someday. As the Lord’s followers begin the life of an Apostle, they will continuously return to the Lord. When they have to make a tough decision in their life, they will remember what the Lord said. When they have to bear the burdens of a life dedicated to Him, they will return in the Spirit to Him and do what He did.

He will not be far from them in mind, body and soul. “No one will take your joy away from me. On that day you will not question me about anything.”

Let us prepare for this day. Let us not question the Lord in anything. He loves us. He died for us. He will come again for us. No one, as hard as they try, will ever be able to take this joy away from us that comes to us from the one who gave it all for us.

The Lord taught us that joy cannot be pursued, it can only be given. Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of your faithful people with joy. Amen.

Now you see. Now you don’t.

Gospel Reading – John 16:16-20

Jesus said to his disciples:”A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.”So some of his disciples said to one another,”What does this mean that he is saying to us,’A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks?We do not know what he means.”Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them,”Are you discussing with one another what I said,’A little while and you will not see me,and again a little while and you will see me’?Amen, amen, I say to you,you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

Reflection

• John 16:16: Absence and presence. Jesus says a “little while” (un mikròn), that is to say, a very brief period of time, perhaps one “instant.” Over and beyond the multiplicity of nuances, what we want to stress here is the exiguity of time. Just as the time that Jesus remained as Incarnate Word with His own, in the same way, the time between His departure and His return, will also be brief. There will be no change in the interior situation of His disciples because the relationship with Jesus does not change: He is permanently close to them. Therefore, the vision of Jesus will not suffer any interruption, but will be characterized by the communion of life with Him (Jn 14:19).

The repeated use of the verb “to see” in v. 16 is interesting: “In a short time you will no longer see Me, and then a short time later you will see Me again”. The expression “a short time you will no longer see Me” recalls the way in which the disciples see in the historical Jesus the Son of God. The other expression, “a short time later you will see Me again”, recalls the experience of the Risen Christ. Jesus seems to want to say to the disciples that for a very short time the conditions to see Him still exist, to recognize Him in His visible flesh, but later, they will see Him in a different vision and He will show Himself transformed, transfigured.

• John 16:17-19: The lack of understanding of the disciples. In the meantime, some disciples do not succeed in understanding what this absence signifies, means, that is to say, His going to the Father. They experience a certain disturbance regarding the words of Jesus and they express this, asking four questions joined together in one expression: “What is He saying; what does it mean?” Other times the reader has listened to the questions of Peter, of Philip, of Thomas, and now of those disciples who ask for an explanation. The disciples do not  understand what He is speaking about. The disciples have not understood how Jesus can be seen again by them if He goes to the Father (vv.16-19). But the question seems to be concentrated on the expression “a short time”, that for the reader,  seems to be a very long time that never ends, especially when one has anguish and sadness. In fact, the time of sadness does not pass away. An answer is expected of Jesus, but the Evangelist places a repetition of the same question as before: “You are asking one another what I meant by saying, ‘In a short time you will no longer see Me; and then a short time later you will see Me again?’” (v. 19).

• John 16:20:  Jesus’ response. In fact Jesus does not respond to the question asked: “What does ‘in a short time mean’?”  He invites them to trust. It is true that the disciples will be tried and tested. They will suffer very much, being alone in a hostile situation, abandoned in a world which rejoices because of the death of Jesus. However, He assures them that their sadness will be changed into joy. The time of sadness is opposed by time in which everything will be overturned. That opposing clause, “but your sadness will be transformed into joy,” underlines such a change of perspective. For the reader it is evident that the expressions “a short time” and “in a short time” correspond to that instant or moment in which the situation is overturned, but until that moment everything will be of sadness and trial.

In the end, the disciples receive from Jesus a promise of happiness and joy.  In the instant in which the difficult situation is overturned, to which “His own”, the ecclesial community, are subjected, they will enter into a reality of the world enlightened by the resurrection. In our own lives, through contemplation and the acceptance of Jesus, we can also go from weeping and mourning while the world rejoices, to experiencing joy.  

Personal questions

• Am I convinced that the moment of trial or suffering will pass away and He will come back to be with me?”

• “You will be weeping and wailing, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” What effect do these words of Jesus have in your lives? How do you live your moments of sadness and anguish?

• What are various ways we may “not see Him” and “a little while later, we see Him”?

• Teresa of Avila, Francis de Sales, John of the Cross, and Bernard are all saints who spoke of  the “dark night”. There is a saying: “absence make the heart grow fonder.” What is your attitude when there is a reunion, when “a little while later, we see Him”? Do we use it as a time to renew and strengthen our relationship with Him, to move beyond being “lukewarm”, or do we get upset and demand “where have you been?”

Concluding Prayer

The whole wide world has seen

the saving power of our God.

Acclaim the Lord, all the earth,

burst into shouts of joy! (Ps 98:3-4)

Source: Carmelites Lectio Divina

The Only WAY to Know the TRUTH in our LIFE

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.” – John 16:12-15

Reflection

• During the Easter Season, the Gospels of each day are almost always taken from chapters 12 to 17 of the Gospel of John. That reveals something regarding the origin and the destination of these chapters. They not only show what happened before the Passion and the death of Jesus, but also and above all, the living out of faith of the first communities after the resurrection. They express the Paschal faith which animated them.

• John 16:12: I still have many things to say to you. Today’s Gospel begins with this sentence: “I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you to bear now.”  Jesus says two things: the farewell, which characterized the Last Supper, and the concern of Jesus, the older brother, for His younger brothers, who within a brief time will be left without His presence. The time left was very short. The work begun was not yet complete. The disciples were just at the beginning of their apprenticeship. Three years are a very short time to change life and to begin to live and to think in a new image of God. Their formation was not yet finished. Much was still lacking and Jesus still had many things to teach them and to transmit to them, but He knows His disciples. They are not among the most intelligent. They would not be capable of knowing all the consequences and implications of discipleship now. They would become discouraged. They would not be able to bear this.

• John 16:13-15: The Holy Spirit will come to their help. “However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will lead you to the complete truth, since He will not be speaking of His own accord, but will say only what He has been told and He will reveal to you the things to come. He will glorify Me, since all He reveals to you will be taken from what is Mine.”  Jesus’ assertion  shows the experience of the first communities. In the measure in which they sought to imitate Jesus, trying to interpret and apply His Word to the various circumstances of their life, they experienced the presence and the light of the Spirit. This even happens today in  communities which try to incarnate the Word of Jesus in their life. The root of this experience is Jesus’ message: “Everything the Father has is Mine that is why I said,  ‘all He reveals to you will be taken from what is Mine.”

• The action of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John. John uses many images and symbols to signify the action of the Holy Spirit. As in creation (Gen 1:1), the Spirit also descends on Jesus, “in the form of a dove, come from Heaven” (Jn 1:32). It is the beginning of the new creation! Jesus speaks the words of God and communicates the Spirit without reserve to us (Jn 3:34). His words are Spirit and Life (Jn 6:63). When Jesus bids farewell, He says that He will send the Paraclete, Consoler, another Defender, who will remain with us. It is the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16-17). By His Passion, death and Resurrection, Jesus won for us the gift of the Holy Spirit. By Baptism all of us have received this same Spirit of Jesus (Jn 1:33). When He appeared to the apostles, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit!” (Jn 20:22). The Spirit is like the water which springs from within the people who believe in Jesus (Jn 7:37-39; 4:14). The first effect of the action of the Spirit in us is reconciliation: “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.” (Jn 20:23). The Spirit which Jesus communicates to us has multiple actions: consoles and spreads (Jn 14:16),  communicates truth (Jn 14:17; 16:13), makes us remember what Jesus taught (Jn 14:26); will give witness to Jesus (Jn 15:26); manifests the glory of Jesus (Jn 16:14), will convince the world concerning sin and justice (Jn 16:8). The Spirit is given to us so that we may understand the complete meaning of the words of Jesus (Jn 14:26; 16:12-13). Encouraged by the Spirit of Jesus we can adore God in any place (Jn 4:23-24). Here lies the liberty of the Spirit of which Saint Paul speaks: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor 3:17).

Personal questions

• How do I live my adherence to Jesus: alone or in community?

• Has my participation in the community led me to sometimes experience the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit?

• The instructions Jesus gave are simple, yet can still be difficult to bear out in total fulfillment. How do I let the Holy Spirit strengthen me and help me to devote myself to His works?

Source: Carmelites Lectio Divina