The gospel readings after Easter move around from author to author and in time sequences also.
It must have been puzzling for the disciples, they were often bewildered by what was happening around them. But we know what is going to happen, it is not a big surprise to us. We are like those who read a book for a second time or watch a play we have seen before, still anticipating the action.
While our lives as believers keep on evolving in our Church and our world, the intimate words of Jesus Christ addressing his apostles on that Holy Thursday night do not change. No doubt we understand them with a deeper understanding than the apostles because we have history on our side. We know what happened in the months and years following the death and resurrection of Jesus.
But most of all, they are addressed to us today, they do not belong in the past. There is a powerful promise for us in the words of the gospel today. A few snippets might prompt us to read the gospel passage.
"I will not leave you orphans; I will come back to you. In a short time, the world will no longer see me; but you will see me because I live and you will live. On that day you will understand that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him." John 14:18-21
The feasts of Pentecost and the Holy Trinity are coming in the liturgical calendar of the Church. Hearing today’s gospel we are prepared for them when we hear that Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to the apostles and disciples and the Holy Spirit would remain with them - with us, forever.
In the New Testament, we see God’s plan unfolding in Jesus’ life through the intervention of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was present in his baptism in the Jordan, at the beginning of his mission; in the temptations in the desert when he was tempted and prepared for his mission and on the mountain when he was transfigured in the presence of the Father speaking with Moses and Elijah.
This gospel reading points to our God being a Triune God. There is deep love between the Father and the Son, between the Son and us and we are invited into the love the Father shares with the Son and the Trinity. It isn’t something we know much about but remains for us to ponder that God is love.
The Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God and by following them the people who followed Moses out of Egypt were fashioned into ‘the people of God’. Jesus added the Beatitudes which fulfilled the Ten Commandments but they had the outlook and insights of Jesus himself.
They have shaped our outlook on life because we believe they have come from God’s own heart.
Columban Fr Gary Walker is currently living at the Columban house in Sandgate, Brisbane.
