Word to the Wise
Thursday, May 1, 2008 - Thursday in the Sixth Week of Easter (The feast of the Ascension is next Sunday in most USA dioceses.)
[Acts 18:1-8 and John 16:16-20]A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.
The Gospel of John often uses puzzlement or misunderstanding to advance the teaching of Jesus. The misunderstanding of the disciples in relation to the above words from the "farewell discourse" are an example. The disciples take the words literally and Jesus' meaning is more subtle than that. In the scheme of the gospel, we have to remember the important equivalence of the word "to see" as a physical act of the sense of sight and a deeper meaning, "to believe." A good example would be found in John 9 in the story of the man born blind. Thus, on the level of the disciples' literal take, it would appear that Jesus is speaking of his death and resurrection. But scholars such as Fr.Raymond Brown, S.S., in his authoritative commentary on this gospel, think Jesus is referring to something more than just the post-resurrection appearances. Rather, the "seeing" of Jesus is to be something more long range, which is the permanent presence of Jesus through the Holy Spirit! The liturgical placement of this scripture well after Easter Sunday gives support to this view. We are very near to Pentecost. The disciples' grief will become joy at the coming of the Holy Spirit. For so many of us the mention of the Holy Spirit either conjures up the vision of a white dove with rays of light shining out from it, or else some mysterious force that keeps us from disaster on some occasion. Our "confirmation" is an event of the distant past. For awhile, the publicity generated by the popularity of the "pentecostal/charismatic" movement in the United States may have alerted us to the reality of the Holy Spirit, but the association with speaking in tongues and other rare manifestations may have just as easily made it difficult for many to relate the the power of the Holy Spirit. Even less, I suspect, do we associate the Holy Spirit with Jesus' promised presence in our lives or with the experience of joy! Yet that is what Jesus teaches. Our faith can give us sight that allows us to encounter Jesus in small and large ways in everyday life. We see him not as he was 2000 years ago, but as he IS now in our brothers and sisters. That initial "little while," and the coming of the Spirit are also our preparation for Jesus' coming at the end of time, But we don't have to wait till then to see him! AMEN
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