Tuesday, Sixth Week of Easter

In the gospel reading, in the setting of the last supper, Jesus is addressing himself to the sadness of his disciples. They have heard Jesus speaking about going to the Father. They understand that in some sense he will be leaving them and it is making them sad. Jesus wants to show them that his leaving them is a way of serving them, because it is only in leaving them that he can become present to them through the Holy Spirit. He has to leave them if the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, is to come to them, and when the Holy Spirit comes they and all future disciples will experience Jesus’ presence in a new and more wonderful way. They have to let Jesus go to receive him again in a way that allows him to work through them more powerfully than he has ever done. There is sorrow among the disciples at Jesus leaving them, but their sorrow will give way to joy on Easter Sunday and beyond. It is often the way in life that we have to go through a painful experience of letting go, of loss, to come out into a greater and fuller life. Growing in the Lord, growing in the Spirit, will often involve the pain of shedding and letting go. As Jesus said earlier in this gospel of John, the seed has to fall to the ground and die if it is to bear much fruit. Yet, the Lord is always with us in the dying that leads to new life, just as he was with his disciples in their sorrow at his leaving them. He journeys with us through the valley of darkness leading us to those restful waters for which we long and which revive our drooping spirits.