Contemplating today's Gospel
Liturgic day: Monday 7th of Easter
Gospel text (Jn 16,29-33):
The disciples said to Jesus, «Now you are speaking plainly and not in
veiled language! Now we see that you know all things, even before we
question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God». Jesus
answered them, «You say that you believe! The hour is coming, indeed it
has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will
leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have
told you all this, so that in me you may have peace. You will have
trouble in the world; but, courage! I have overcome the world».
Comment: Fr. Jordi CASTELLET i Sala (Sant Hipòlit de Voltregà, Barcelona, Spain)
«Courage! I have overcome the world»
Today,
we may have the feeling that the world of faith in Christ is weakening.
Many are symptoms against the fortitude and courage we would like to
receive from a life integrally based on the Gospel. Consumerism,
capitalism, sensualism and materialism values are very much in fashion
and against any representation that may be in tune with the evangelical
demands. Nevertheless, this combination of values and life ways do not
provide either our own personal plenitude or our peace; in fact, it
rather brings an intimate feeling of discomfort and uneasiness. Could
not it be because of this circumstance that, today, we see lots of
people in public sulking, lost in though and worrying about a rather
obscure future, most probably because they have pledged it against the
cost of a car, a flat or some holidays they simply cannot afford?Jesus' words inspire confidence: «Courage! I have overcome the world» (Jn 16:33), that is, through his Passion, Death and Resurrection, He has attained the eternal life, life with nothing to stop it, a limitless life because it has overcome all limits and all difficulties.
We, soldiers of Christ, can overcome these difficulties too, as He did, in spite of the fact we may have to go throughout our life through many deaths and resurrections, never wanted but certainly assumed by the very Paschal Mystery of Christ. For “deaths” indeed are, losing a friend, parting with a beloved person, the failure of a project or the limitations our own human weakness impose upon us…
But «in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us» (Rm 8:37). Let us be witnesses to God's love, because He has, with us, «done great things» (Lk 1:49) and has given us his help to overcome all difficulties, even death, because Christ is sending us the Holy Spirit.
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