25 May, 2025, 6th Sunday of Easter, Year C: Acts15:1-2, 22-29; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29
In only seven verses, today’s Gospel covers an immense territory, from fidelity to Jesus’s teaching, to intimacy with God, to the promise of the Holy Spirit AND the Spirit’s role in our understanding; to the peace that only Jesus can give, to our fears without him; to the necessity of his departure from us… And each one of those could be unpacked in greater detail.
Isn’t this mind-boggling?
And given the context of this gospel, the Last Supper, how confusing was that to his apostles who would soon flee and abandon Jesus? Perhaps that is the knee-jerk reaction when any one of us feels overwhelmed: flee! Evidently, they did not grasp what Jesus said to prepare them.
But is that the point?
Must I fumble everything to see that I’ve been on the wrong track? That my former way of understanding is inadequate? My cleverness or intelligence, my drive to succeed or be correct—let alone be satisfied—is not the point.
Might I only be ready to receive the Holy Spirit when I can admit that I’ve been reduced to that level of confusion the apostles experienced?
Do I need to disappoint myself and lose the self I have so carefully constructed, to discover the self that God created me to be?