Saturday Reflection

Daily Gospel Reflection May 23^rd 2020

Gospel                                                      JN 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.”

Dear Friends and Family,

            “Because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.”  This is another curious phrase found in scripture.  The love part is easy enough to grasp.  Most Christians are growing in a love relationship with Jesus Christ.  We listen to what Jesus said, we see the miracles he performed, and we wonder at the incredible sacrifice Jesus makes on the cross for us.  These actions of Jesus on our behalf inspire us to enter into a relationship with him.  However, some might struggle in their relationship with God the Father as a result of their own relationship with their father or because of misperception of the nature of God.  We see the power of God in the Old Testament and how over time the Father slowly reveals himself to his holy people.  We wonder how the chosen people can wander back and forth in their relationship with God the Father.  One moment they worship and praise the Creator and the next moment they worship idols.  We wonder how we can enter into a relationship with this all powerful creator and not follow the wandering path his chosen people followed in the Old Testament.  Today Jesus tells us how to avoid a similar journey.

            Jesus tells us that he will no longer need to intercede on our behalf with the Father because the Father loves us.  Why does the Father love us? Because we love Jesus and we believe he comes from God the Father.  It’s our faith, our belief, our relationship with Jesus that bridges the gap between us and the Father.  To use the language of the Old Testament, “It is attributed as an act of righteousness.”   We are in a right relationship with Jesus Christ and as a result we are in a right relationship with his Father in Heaven.  While we still have an intercessor in Jesus Christ, we also have a personal relationship with his Father because we love his son.  We see examples of this in the world.  A parent becomes estranged from their child; the child grows, marries and has a child of their own. The grandparent’s great love for their grandchild restores or mends the relationship that was estranged.  The love for the grandson or granddaughter brings healing to the woundedness of the past.  If love has that kind of transformative effect here in this flawed and broken world, imagine how the power of love transforms our lives in the next.  Our Heavenly Father loves us.  We see this love in his son and we see his love in the wisdom of answered prayers.  Each day as we grow in our love for Jesus Christ, know that we are growing in our relationship with our Heavenly Father and ultimately in our love of the Holy Spirit who will change everything next week at Pentecost.