Gospel: John 16: 12-15

 

During the Easter Season, the Gospels of each day are almost always taken from chapters 12 to 17 of the Gospel of John. They not only show what happened before the Passion and the death of Jesus, but also and above all, the living out of faith of the first communities after the resurrection. They express the Paschal faith which animated them.

 

Today’s Gospel begins: “I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you to bear now.”  Jesus says two things: the farewell, which characterized the Last Supper, and the concern of Jesus, the older brother, for His younger brothers, who within a brief time will be left without His presence. The time left was very short. The work begun was not yet complete. The disciples were just at the beginning of their apprenticeship. 

 

Three years are a very short time to change life and to begin to live. Their formation was not yet finished. Much was still lacking and Jesus still had many things to teach them and to transmit to them, but He knows His disciples. They are not among the most intelligent. They would not be capable of knowing all the consequences and implications of discipleship now. They would become discouraged. They would not be able to bear this.

 

The Holy Spirit will come to their help. Jesus’ assertion shows the experience of the first communities. In the measure in which they sought to imitate Jesus, trying to interpret and apply His Word to the various circumstances of their life, they experienced the presence and the light of the Spirit. This even happens today in communities which try to incarnate the Word of Jesus in their life.