WE ARE NOT ORPHANS_John 14, 15-21

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER A - 29 May 2011

WE ARE NOT ORPHANS

John 14, 15-21

José Antonio Pagola translated by Rev. Fr. Valentine de Souza

Rev. Fr.Valentine SJ

A Church made up of Christians who relate to a poorly known, little loved and only routinely remembered Jesus, is a church that runs the risk of getting extinct. A Christian community gathered around a lifeless Jesus who does not attract or touch hearts, is a community without a future.


In the Church of Jesus we urgently need a new quality in our relationship with him. We need Christian communities distinguished by a lively experience of Jesus. Everyone can help bring about a Church where Jesus is experienced and lived with in a new way. We can make it more of what Jesus wants it to be, more united to him. How?


In his Gospel, John recreates the parting of Jesus at the Last Supper. The disciples sense that soon he will be taken away from them. What will become of them without him? Whom will they follow? Where will they nurture their hope? Jesus speaks to them with special tenderness. Before leaving them, he wants to make them understand how they will be able to live united to him even after his death.


Above all, they must have imprinted in their hearts something they must never forget: “I will not leave you orphans. I will come back to you.” They must never feel alone. Jesus speaks to them of a new experience they will have that will bring them to life because it will affect them in the depths of their being. He will not forget them. He will come and be with them.


Already, Jesus will not be able to be seen in the light of this world, but he will be able to be perceived with the eyes of faith. Do we not have to foster and revive much more this presence of the risen Jesus in our midst? How will we work for a more humane world and a more evangelical Church if we do not feel him close to us?


Jesus speaks to them of a new experience that till now his disciples had not known as long as they followed him along the roads of Galilee: “You will know that I am with my Father and that you are with me.” This is the basic experience that sustains our faith. In the depths of our Christian hearts we know that Jesus is with the Father and we are with him. This changes everything.


This experience is fueled by love: “Whoever loves me… I will love him and reveal myself to him.” Is it possible to follow Jesus carrying the cross each day without loving him and without feeling dearly loved by him? Is it possible to prevent the decline of Christianity without reviving this love? What power will be able to sustain the Church if we let this love die? Who will be able to fill the void left by Jesus? Who can replace his living presence in our midst?


We are not orphans: Jesus alive is in our midst!






Source: URL of José Antonio Pagola's Buenas Noticias Web site:
http://sanvicentemartirdeabando.org    Website for Spanish original and translations: www.eclesalia.net
Jose Antonio Pagola, vgentza@euskalnet.net , San Sebastian, Guipuzcoa, Spain.

English Transation by (Valentine) Vally de Souza S.J. vallydesouza@jesuits.net, Mandal, Gujarat , India.