Sixth Sunday of Easter-A
Anticipating the Feast of the Ascension, this weekend’s Gospel reading focuses on Jesus’ return to his Father in heaven. He reiterates to his disciples that keeping the commandments is akin to loving him. Then, he says something strange. He tells them he will not leave them, orphans.
The traditional understanding of being orphaned has to do with a child losing their parents before becoming an adult. Curiously, Jesus uses this term in relation to his adult disciples. Obviously, the use of the term has nothing to do with chronological age, but rather with spiritual maturity.
Human experience shows that bodily development and spiritual growth rarely advance at the same rate. This was true of the disciples, who were trying to make sense of their mentor’s passion, death, and resurrection. Their faith life, like ours, was nascent and in need of direction and refinement.
Preparing his own for his glorified body to be no longer with them, Jesus promises they will not be alone in discerning the truth in a world full of sin. “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him.”
The Advocate, Jesus’ Holy Spirit, will be with them; the Spirit of perfect communion with the Father and the Son will be with Christians to the end of time. By the Spirit, Jesus remains with the faithful, and the union between God and his creatures will continue.
Through the Spirit, Jesus tells the disciples he will be with them in a way far more intimate than a visual recognition. He promises us that as the head of the body, the faithful and Jesus are united as one. “On that day you will realize that I am in the Father and you are in me and I in you.” What a statement! We have the possibility of an intimate relationship with Jesus.
Jesus’ promise not to leave us orphaned is irrevocable. To be without the grace and communion with God is of our own doing. Often, in a spiritual journey, we orphan ourselves through our lack of faith and commitment to obeying his commandments.
One of the criticisms of Catholicism is that those who receive the Eucharist seemingly do not act any differently from the rest. There is some truth to the conclusion, and it is enforced by public figures who claim to be practicing Catholics who openly promote the killing of babies in the womb.
Or, those who think the weekly demand to worship God and receive His Son in the Eucharist, or receive Reconciliation, is somehow optional. Disregarding the gifts Jesus left His Church can only be construed as a self-imposed orphaning of ourselves.
Hopefully, the Gospel today makes us realize how fragile our spiritual lives are. We do need, regardless of our chronological age, the help of the heavenly Father in communion with Jesus and the Holy Spirit to lead us away from our stubborn ways. One way to determine how we have strayed from God and His love is by how well we keep His commandments.
The question is not always whether God loves us; it is how much we love God. When that love grows lukewarm, we have already begun to isolate ourselves. Jesus’ redemption is to make certain none of his own will become orphans, but holy members of his Body.