PRI Reflections on Scripture | Monday of the 5th Week of Easter

Gospel
John 14:21-26

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him."
Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,
"Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.

"I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name--
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you."

Reflection

It's hard to imagine how the disciples understood these words of Jesus. Even today, with all the theology that has been written and all the explanations, we still have to look carefully at what Jesus is saying. And it holds within it a secret. And the secret is that this thing we're asked to do is not about doing, but about being.

Love is the answer to everything. Love is God. Jesus is manifesting the love of God. But the most powerful thing in this reading is the gift of the Holy Spirit. Often described as the love between God and His Son, Jesus. But what it underscores is that we have within us this indwelling presence of a way of seeing and understanding and living that has to be revealed to us.

It's not something we can come up with ourselves. So to be a person who ponders and who wonders is the key to unlocking the power of the Word of God.

Closing Prayer

Father, logic is important. But so often we're asked to let go of logic or the way we think the world works and open ourselves to a great mystery. The mystery is all about God in us, doing the most amazing things through us. The pressure is not on us to do anything more than to trust and to believe all that God can do through us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.