Word to the Wise
Monday, May 17, 2010 - Monday in the Seventh Week of Easter
[Acts 19:1-8 and John 16:29-33]I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.
One of the primary characteristics of the portrait of Jesus that is given to us in the Gospel of John is his confidence! Jesus is always in charge, even when arguing with Pilate. What gives him such confidence? How can he say he has conquered "the world?" How can we gain such confidence and have the kind of peace in him that he is promising? He is about to go to his passion! He is also about to return to his Father - and it is that relationship which is at the root of his confidence and peace. A human parallel may help us to gain some understanding of this. Those of us who have the experience of a close relationship with friend or sibling or parent know how the love and support of that relationship can give us confidence and courage to deal with many difficulties. Thus, in the midst of challenge or suffering, we experience peace and confidence because we know that we are loved. It is this kind of love that comes closest to what Jesus is saying. If we believe in him, we are united with him. If we are united with him, then we are also united with his Father! As he said earlier (after washing the disciples' feet): "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." This is why we are told, In the word you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world. For many Catholics, this kind of personal relationship with Christ has a strange flavor to it. We often prefer to keep that kind of spiritual relationship on the level of the Mother of Jesus or the saints. Our Protestant brothers and sisters seem to have been more into this than we could ever be. Indeed, we do have to be aware of how our cultural individualism can color a relationship which is more than "me and Jesus." We are part of the Body of Christ, so that we do not "receive" Jesus by ourselves nor can we separate ourselves out from all the rest. Our confidence and peace comes not only from our relationship with Christ but also with neighbor. If Jesus calls us "friends," he also challenges us to call one another "friends." [cf. John 15:11-15]. AMEN
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