DAILY GRACE
May 12, 2020, Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Scripture: John 14:27-31
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation
“If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father.”
This Gospel, a flashback of sorts to the Last Supper, strikes me as a painful reminder of the sorrow of Holy Week. However, as we reread these words of Jesus in light of Easter morning, they take on new meaning. “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father,” he says.
Putting myself in the apostles’ shoes, I wonder how I could be glad to hear Jesus say he is going away. If I loved him, he says, I would be glad. But why? Because, Jesus says, “I love the Father.” Jesus’ whole life has been about the Father, right up until the very end. He goes to the Father, and promises to return to us, to remain closer to us than ever before.
With these words, Jesus shares with us the mystery of love that is the Trinity. No wonder his words to the apostles are so difficult to understand! But one of the great beauties of this Last Supper passage is that Jesus invites us to share in this great love between him and the Father. Jesus shares with the apostles his deepest reason for his eventual acceptance of Calvary: that the world might see how much he loves the Father. He prepares the apostles (and us) for the experience of the cross and promises the strength we need.
As the celebration of the Ascension approaches, let us remember the great love of the Son for the Father, a love so powerful that it leads to our own salvation. Let us remember and give thanks.
Prayer
Father, I praise you for your amazing love for us in Jesus. May your peace always possess my heart, and may I embrace your will with the freedom and love of Jesus.
Contemplation
“My peace I give to you.”