Word to the Wise
Saturday, May 11, 2024 - 6th Week of Easter - Sat
[Acts 18:23-28 and John 16:23b-28]"For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."
Jesus is the one whom God has sent. This was said in the Prologue to this gospel and has been said over and over again. The disciples' "coming to faith in him" was (and still is) the goal of his mission. Now that he has accomplished that mission he is going to return to the One who sent him. The long discourse at the Last Supper is a kind of collection of refrains on his mission and the relationship between him and those who have come and will come (through the preaching of the disciples) to belief in him. That preaching would be guided by the "Advocate," - the Holy Spirit - which led them and us to all truth until Jesus returns at the end of time.
It is not easy to keep that faith in the face of secular challenges on the level of science and cultural options that can lead to loss of faith. We can read the whole gospel as an exhortation to "keep the faith" so we can say with confidence to Jesus, "mission accomplished!" AMEN