THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Tuesday of the sixth Week of Easter, 2023 

Acts 16:22-34

Ps 138

John 16:5-11

For if I do not go...

In this morning’s gospel reading (16:5-11), Jesus, on the night before he died, addresses himself to the sadness of the disciples. They are sad because they have heard him talk about going away. 

On this evening, full of foreboding, they sense that he is referring to his imminent death. We always experience sadness when someone significant to us, someone we have loved and valued, is taken from us in death. We need to grieve the loss of our loved ones. Yet, Jesus wants to bring some light into the sadness, the darkness of spirit, of his disciples. He does so by assuring them that, in going from them, he will be able to do something for them that he would not otherwise be able to do. In returning to the Father, he will be able to send them the Advocate, the Paraclete, and the Holy Spirit. 

In and through this Spirit, Jesus will be present to his disciples in a new and very intimate way, and he will be present in this manner not just to his disciples gathered with him that evening but to all future disciples, including ourselves gathered here this morning. Jesus’ death and his resurrection from the dead led to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us all, and, in and through the Spirit, Jesus is within us and among us. That same Spirit is with us in all our dark and difficult times, in all our times of painful loss. The Spirit assures us of the Lord’s loving presence at such moments, so that even in our sadness we can experience something of that joy which is the fruit of the Spirit.

Let us pray: Come Holy Spirit, and let the fire of your love burn in my heart. Amen.

+Remain blessed