4-May-15

Gospel JN 14:21-26
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,
“Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name—
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.”
Reflection
“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me."
The key, of course, is love. Anyone can claim to love someone but the test of true love is loyalty. True love calls us to loyalty and selflessness. True love instills within us a desire to live our life to please the other. In effect, Jesus is saying that it is not enough to claim you love me. The proof of your love is in your actions.
"Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”
"Reveal myself." To whom do we have the deepest urge to reveal ourselves? To the one who loves us, of course. We don't expose our deepest secrets and fears to a stranger. It is only through the confidence that comes from being loved that we feel secure enough to let our true selves be seen.
“Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”
Judas simply didn't get it. Jesus answered Judas' question by once again talking about love. "Whoever does not love me does not keep my words." It is so logical. Why would Jesus reveal himself to those who did not believe in him or love him?
He had spent three years explaining to the Pharisees, Scribes and Priests who he was and that he had come from the Father. Their reaction was one of hostility and disbelief to the point that they wanted to kill him. They had neither eyes to see or ears to hear.
"The Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name—he will teach
you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”
Jesus knew that even though we love, our human nature calls us to sin. As the saying goes, "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." So, he promised to give those who love him the Holy Spirit as their helper and comforter. The Holy Spirit is alive within all those who love God. He shows himself in quiet but powerful ways. In our moments of weakness, the Spirit touches our minds and hearts to remind us that we are children of God. When we fail, the Holy Spirit comes to us in the form of our conscience and renders our hearts so that we are called to reconcile ourselves with God. As Saint Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in God."
My Christian journey has been one of falling and getting back up. I take heart and hope from Jesus' carrying his cross to his place of crucifixion. His falling and rising three times reminds me that he does not call me to be perfect; He calls me to be faithful.
I am a work in progress.

"The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost." G.K. Chesterton