Daily Gospel Reflection

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May 9, 2024

Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Jn 16:16-20
Listen to the Audio Version

Jesus said to his disciples:
“A little while and you will no longer see me,
and again a little while later and you will see me.”
So some of his disciples said to one another,
“What does this mean that he is saying to us,
‘A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me,’
and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”
So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks?
We do not know what he means.”
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them,
“Are you discussing with one another what I said,
‘A little while and you will not see me,
and again a little while and you will see me’?
Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

Reflection

Barbara Hanson
ND Parent
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As I age, I find myself thinking about the legacy I hope to leave my children and grandchildren when I am no longer with them. Of the utmost importance is for them to know they are loved. I believe this is the legacy Jesus wanted his disciples to have when he spoke to them in today’s reading.

He loved them and wanted to prepare them for the time when he would not be with them while also reassuring them that their grief would not last. They would see him again and be filled with joy. Our lifetime ends. Our love lives on transcending time and space, increasing in the stories and memories of those we have loved and who have loved us. While they are not present to us, their spirit lives on in our hearts and in recognition of the likeness we see in others that reminds us of them.

Our relationship with Jesus is the same. Out of love, he sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts and to enable us to see him in others. That love informs and transforms our response to those we encounter.

A reflection attributed to C.S. Lewis given to me on an Ignatian retreat articulates our deep connection in this way: “I imagine when we die and finally see God, we will not say, ‘Lord, I could never have guessed how beautiful you are.’ We will NOT say that. Rather, we will say, ‘So it was you all along. Everyone I ever loved, it was you. Everyone who ever loved me, it was you. Everything decent or fine that ever happened to me, everything that made me reach out and try to do better was you all along.”

The mystical nature of love comforts us and fills us with the promise of a joyful face-to-face reunion with the one whose love ignites our hearts here and now.

Prayer

Rev. Brad Metz, C.S.C.

Eternal and ever-living God, you created daylight from darkness and ordered the sun, moon, and stars to guide us through time into your eternal salvation. Help us to always trust in you even when others reject your Word. May we find sustenance in your saving power and praise you joyfully throughout the seasons of life. In a little while, grant that we will see you face-to-face and in your light know the fullness of life forever, you who live and reign with the Son and Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.