DO NOT LEAVE JESUS, HE WILL NOT LEAVE YOU


We are in the Sixth Sunday of the Easter. The readings of today are centred on Holy Spirit. Today’s Gospel is situated around Jesus telling His disciples that He is going away from this world. In this context of perplexity and fearfulness of disciples Jesus assures them that He will not leave them as orphans (Jn 14:18). He promises them the Holy Spirit from the Father (Jn 14:16).
True love is expressed in two ways; word and deed. True love cannot be limited to one kind of expression alone. One who says that I love him/her and never do anything that brings fortune to him/her is a liar. Similarly, the expression of love in words are not just limited to three words (in English) I Love You. One can express his/her love for the other without even using these famous three words. True love is expressed in different form of words such as; the words of encouragement in the time of depression, the words of consolation in the time of desolation, the words of inspiration in the time of hopelessness, the words of courage in the time of emptiness and the words of  light in the time of darkness. This is what exactly happening in today’s gospel (Jn 14:15-21); Jesus is giving words of encouragement to his disciples not to lose hope in Him when he goes away from this world.  He did not stop with these words of encouragement he promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit from the Father. He pledges them that He would pray to the Father (Jn 14:16) to send the Holy Spirit upon them.
When Praises Go Up the Spirit Comes Down" Greeting Card by vigor ...The disciples also loved Jesus in word and deed. Their love for Jesus made them to proclaim the good news; the resurrection of Jesus to the ends of the world. They boldly bore witness to Jesus, the son of God in front of kings and senates. The message of Christ was the words of encouragement, consolation, courage and inspiration. Above all the disciples kept His commandments and instilled Christ values in the communities. The disciples did all these not when Jesus was with them physically but after He has had ascended into heaven. For others Jesus was absent from this world but for the disciples Jesus was present with them. They were enabled to do all these things due to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them. Jesus was alive in them in the form of Holy Spirit. Jesus said that only they – who receive the Holy Spirit can know that He is alive and He lives (Jn 14: 19). Thus, to receive the Holy Spirit we need to accept Jesus and become His disciples.
To be a disciple of Jesus is to love Him and keep His commandment. To do this we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit, a guide and counsellor. In the first reading (Acts 8:5-8,14-17) after the Samaritans had welcomed the message of Christ that was proclaimed by Philip (Acts 8:5-6), the apostles sent Peter and John to lay their hand on them so that they may receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-15). And indeed, the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 8:17).
With the help of Holy Spirit we made every ready to defend our faith in Jesus. We do this not to offend the oppressor or suppressor of our faith but to bear witness, to express our love for Jesus in word. We do this with respect and simplicity (1 Pet 3:15) as said in the second reading (1 Pet 3:15-18). In deed we keep our Lord’s commandment and endure sufferings that come along the way. The world’s ethos is to suffer for wrong doings and rejoice in good deeds. But St. Peter in his apostolic letter says “it is better to suffer for doing good, if it is God’s will, than for doing wrong” (1 Pet 3:17). If we love Jesus, we keep His commandment which is love, when we do this there is no place for doing wrong things. Therefore, there is no way for suffering, yet we suffer is the reality. It is because the world has not yet received the message of Christ in its fullness and actualized the message of Christ in concrete situation. To overcome this we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit.
As we battle the deadly covid-19 pandemic, let us renew our love for Christ Jesus in word and deed. Let us express our love for Jesus and others with the words of comfort and deeds of mercy to one another. Let us ask Jesus to pray to the Father, that we may receive the Holy Spirit to bear witness to our hope in Him in this time of tribulation and see His presence and live in Him (Jn 14:19).
Jesus says, “I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you” (Jn 14:18).

Comments