Breaking the Word

6^th week in Easter Time, Friday – 27^th May 2020 — Gospel: Jn 16,20-23

No One Will Take Your Joy Away

Jesus promises so great a joy to his followers that absolutely nothing will be able to take it away.  The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment, and the joy of the chief priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, was a short lived one, on account of Christ’s death. The joy of Jesus being risen from the dead filled the apostles so much, that they went forth boldly preaching in the name of Christ. The joy of the disciples was durable; because they believed that their risen Lord would never die any more. The blessing of grace manifested in redemption, pardon, righteousness, and atonement would remain forever as the foundation of solid joy. Such a joy, no stranger could intermeddle with it; neither man nor devil could take it away, not by all the reproaches or persecutions that would follow them. Though a believer’s joy may be damped by sin, and Satan, and the world, it may not always happen because the joy always remains in Christ. The believer partakes in an everlasting joy of Christ. At the same time, Jesus tells us that when our joy finally culminates, we will no longer question him about anything. There will no longer be room for doubt. Our hearts will be so overflowing with his joy that we will lack nothing. The ache of our thirst will be quenched. The longing of our hearts will be filled.

6^th week in Easter Time, Wednesday – 25^th May 2022 — Gospel: Jn 16,12-15

Creative Revealer

Jesus has taught his disciples all that they are to know and understand about the present time. Yet, He reassures them that they will come to a fuller knowledge when the Spirit of truth comes upon them. This is a knowledge of understanding God’s plan and establishing a relationship with God that creates a never-ending bond between the disciples and triune God. This Spirit plays a creative role. The Spirit will pick up where Jesus leaves off and will add to their ability to understand and spread the seeds of faith which Jesus has nurtured in them. The Spirit is just a further revelation of the God who is not fully known except through a continued process of divine self-revelation, which assures permanency of God’s presence. Also, the Spirit will only explicate and make clearer what Jesus has already said. He will not give a new teaching. The Spirit will also declare “the things that are to come”. He is creative and enables the words of Jesus to move forward from its moment in history to the present life of the Church. Thus, the Spirit gives new meanings to the teachings of Jesus according to the circumstances of the faith communities.