Word to the Wise
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - 6th Week of Easter - Tues
[Acts 16:22-34 and John 16:5-11]"Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you."
Our faith in the trinitarian nature of God, as we profess it now, developed well after the gospels were put into writing, but some of the major roots are to be found in the Gospel of John. Today's gospel scripture is an example. Jesus speaks of returning to the One who sent him, and of sending the Advocate ("Paraclete" in older translations). Centuries later we routinely profess this faith when we make the Sign of the Cross. We are baptized "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." For the disciples who were listening to Jesus' words, however, the impact of profound theology on personal grief at the time may not have been very much! The later reflection of the community which resulted in the composition of the gospel allowed for better memory and understanding!
The question that Jesus refers to was answered with the teaching that Jesus is not going to a geographic "where." Jesus' "going" is essential to the Advocate's "coming." The community will enter into a new way of experiencing Jesus' presence. It might be helpful to recall Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus back in Chapter 3! In our own day, Jesus' presence takes many forms. There is the sacramental presence in the Eucharist, but there is also the gathering of the community and the proclamation of the Word, and the "faces of the hungry, the thirsty, the naked and imprisoned." It is the Spirit [Advocate] who enables us to experience this presence if we are open to it. It may not be possible for us to experience the personal grief of the disciples at the Last Supper, but we do share with them the "farewell gift" of the Advocate. AMEN