Tuesday Reflection

Daily Gospel Reflection May 19th 2020

Gospel                                                                                  JN 16:5-11

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes he will convict the world
in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:
sin, because they do not believe in me;
righteousness, because I am going to the Father
and you will no longer see me;
condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”

Dear Friends and Family,

            What Jesus says in this passage is very curious. But let’s look at how Jesus begins. The disciples followed Jesus and learned from him.  But Jesus is preparing them to take the next step.  It’s time for the disciples to go from being followers of Jesus Christ to being heralds of Jesus’ Word in the world.  The disciples can’t do this on their own so Jesus promises to send them the Advocate.  This should be encouraging news but the disciples are trapped by their grief.  Whenever scripture uses the term disciple, we are called to place ourselves in that spot.  How many of us are trapped by our grief and sorrow of things lost, things left behind, people that no longer walk beside us?  Our sadness paralyzes our hearts and we find it hard to move forward.  This is when our God takes us where we are and gives us what we need to do his work.  The scriptures tell us of a similar struggle the disciples faced after Jesus’ Ascension.  The Holy Spirit filled the disciples hiding in the upper room. That Spirit moved them into the streets to proclaim the risen Christ. Jesus promises in truth to do the work; all the disciples have to do is be ready for Advocate.

            We may find ourselves unable to move forward for many reasons.  But Jesus steps into our paralysis and promises us his Holy Spirit, a gift given to us at Baptism and confirmed at our Confirmation.  This grace will allow us to see our sinfulness and give us the strength to repent for it and leave it behind.  This grace will give us the power to live rightly before our God and the strength to walk the path he has set before us.  Then grace will be given to see the works of the enemy, the courage to avoid those works or the humility to confess them to God when we fall victim.  Our God promised he would not leave us orphans. Jesus has shown us his Father’s ways and he has given us his Holy Spirit to guide us until the end of time.  What more could we ask of such a loving God?  Let us not look down like disciples who mourn but let us look up to glorify God and allow his light to illuminate the path before us.