13th May > > Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies for Today's Mass Readings (Inc. John 16:29-33) on Monday, Seventh Week of Easter: ‘Be brave. I have conquered the world’. (2024)

13th May > > Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies for Today's Mass Readings (Inc. John 16:29-33) on Monday, Seventh Week of Easter: ‘Be brave. I have conquered the world’.

Monday, Seventh Week of Easter

Gospel (Except USA)John 16:29-33Be brave, for I have conquered the world.

His disciples said to Jesus, ‘Now you are speaking plainly and not using metaphors! Now we see that you know everything, and do not have to wait for questions to be put into words; because of this we believe that you came from God.’ Jesus answered them:

‘Do you believe at last?Listen; the time will come– in fact it has come already–when you will be scattered,each going his own way and leaving me alone.And yet I am not alone,because the Father is with me.I have told you all thisso that you may find peace in me.In the world you will have trouble,but be brave: I have conquered the world.’

Gospel (USA)John 16:29-33Take courage, I have conquered the world.

The disciples said to Jesus, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now? Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

Reflections (9)

(i) Monday, Seventh Week of Easter

I am often struck by the response of disciples in Ephesus to Paul’s question, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?’ They answered, ‘No, we were never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit?’ It was a very honest acknowledgement of ignorance. The first step to coming to know is often the acknowledgement that we don’t know. We are approaching the feast of Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps there is a sense in which we all have a lot to learn about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was spoken of in the past as the forgotten person of the Blessed Trinity. We can picture God the Creator and Jesus his Son more easily than the Holy Spirit. We find images of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures, such as the dove, fire, the wind, and, yet, we sense that they all fall very far short of the reality. The Holy Spirit is the life presence of God the Father and the risen Lord. It is through the Holy Spirit that the Father and the Son make their home within us and among us. When the Holy Spirit is alive in us, it shows itself in a way of life that reflects the life of God, the life of Jesus, a life of self-giving love. Saint Paul speaks about the fruit of the Spirit. Just as a healthy tree bears good fruit, so a spiritually healthy person, who is alive with the Holy Spirit, will bear the good fruit of the Spirit, what Paul calls ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, generosity and self-control’. When Jesus says to his disciples in today’s gospel reading, ‘I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me’, he is referring to the fruit of the Spirit. He is promising to pour out the Holy Spirit into the lives of his disciples, all of us, the Spirit of God’s love, of his own love, and this experience of being unconditionally loved will bring peace, even when, as Jesus says in the gospel reading, the world will bring us trouble of various kinds. As we approach the feast of Pentecost, we pray for a fresh growth of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

And/Or

(ii) Monday,Seventh Week of Easter

Jesus speaks in the gospel reading this morning as someone who is very aware that those closest to him will soon abandon him. Rather than going his way and remaining faithful to him, his disciples will go their own way, and leave him alone. Yet, Jesus also speaks with the awareness that he is never really alone because God his Father is always with him. Even as he hung from the cross, God was with him, supporting him. What Jesus says of himself we can all say of ourselves. There often comes times in our lives when we find ourselves alone. This is true especially of those who have never married or of older people whose spouse has died and whose families are away. Yet, even when we are alone, we can say with Jesus ‘I am not alone’. God the Father is with us as he was with Jesus. Indeed the risen Jesus is also with us, as is the Holy Spirit who has been poured into our hearts. Even when we are alone, we are always in the presence of theTrinity,we are living members of that wonderful family of love. Our awareness of that can bring us a deep peace, a peace the world cannot give. As Jesus saysin this morning’s gospel reading, even when in the world we have trouble, we will find peace in him.

And/Or

(iii) Monday, Seventh Week of Easter

Facing the truth is something we all find difficult to do, especially when the truth is painful. Jesus always faced the truth, because he was the truth. In this morning’sgospel reading he faces the truth about his own disciples. He says to them quite openly, ‘the time will come when you will be scattered, each going his own way and leaving me alone’. He knew that his disciples would fail; when his passion arrives, they would serve their own interests rather than serve him. That must have been a painful truth for Jesus to recognize and to articulate. Yet, what Jesus goes on to say in the gospel reading implies that he will keep faith with them, nonetheless. He says, ‘I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me’. The first words of the risen Lord to his disciples, according to the evangelist, were, ‘Peacebewith you’. After failure, we can all find peace in Jesus because he loves us as the Father loves him. Having told his disciples that they would find peace in him, he goes on to warn them of another painful truth, ‘in the world you will have trouble’. They will know the world’s hostility. Yet, even in the midst of that hostility they will know the Lord’s peace, because, in the words ofSaint Paul, nothing can come between them, between us, and the love of God made visible in Jesus.

And/Or

(iv) Monday, Seventh Week of Easter

This morning’s gospel reading is set within the context of the last supper on the night before Jesus was crucified. Jesus tells his disciples plainly that soon they will be scattered each going his own way and leaving Jesus alone. He announces their failure, their lack of faithfulness to him. Jesus had declared earlier ‘I am the way’. Yet, his disciples would go their own way. One of the most popular songs of modern times is Frank Sinatra’s song, ‘I did it my way’. The gospel, however, calls on us to do it Jesus’ way. Rather than going our own way, we are to be faithful to his way, which is the way of the loving service of others, as Jesus demonstrated in his washing of the disciples’ feet. This is the way to authentic life. Jesus not only said ‘I am the way’ but ‘I am the life’. The Lord will be with us as we strive to keep choosing this way. In the gospel reading Jesus said, ‘I am not alone because the Father is with me’. We are not alone either. The risen Lord is with us and his presence to us can empower us to keep choosing his way, the way of life.

And/Or

(v) Monday, Seventh Week of Easter

There is a great realism about the words that Jesus speaks to his disciples in this morning’s gospel reading. He says to them on the evening of the last supper, ‘the time will come when you will all be scattered, each going his own way and leaving me alone’. That is precisely what happened; the disciples went their own way in the hour of Jesus’ passion and death; theylooked out for themselves. In an equally realistic vein, Jesus says to his disciples, ‘in the world you will have trouble’. Jesus was aware that his disciples would soon have to travel their own way of the cross. Jesus names the painful realities that are ahead. There is no pretence, no wishful thinking,noavoidance. Yet, having painted that somewhat negative picture of the future, Jesus goes on to say to his disciples, ‘I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me... be brave, I have conquered the world’. In spite of the failure and the suffering ahead, Jesus wants his followers, wants all of us to be brave, because his love is stronger than sin, stronger than suffering and death. He offers us the gift of his peace, a peace the world cannot give. It is the peace of knowing that the Lord is faithful and is always at work in even the most unpromising and painful of situations.

And/Or

(vi) Monday, Seventh Week of Easter

In the gospel reading Jesus promises his disciples the gift of peace. He says, ‘I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me’. Yet, it is clear that this peace does not mean the absence of trouble, because, having promised the disciples the gift of his peace, Jesus immediately goes on to say, ‘in the world you will have trouble’. Jesus is alluding there to the struggle they will often have in trying to remain faithful to him, the hostility they will experience as they bear witness to him by their lives. Jesus is saying that the living of our faith will make demands on us; it will sometimes bring trouble upon us, but in the midst of all of that we can still experience the Lord’s peace. This peace is a peace the world cannot give; it is the fruit of our relationship with the Lord and of our efforts to be faithful to that relationship regardless of the cost. Paul was someone who experienced thispeaceof the Lord even when he was in dire straits. He wrote a letter to the church in Philippi from prison which is full of joy and peace, even though his situation was very precarious. Like Paul we can all know the Lord’s peace in the midst of trouble. Towards the end of the letter Paul said, ‘I can do all things in him who gives me strength’. We can all say the same.

And/Or

(vii) Monday, Seventh Week of Easter

At the beginning of this morning’s gospel reading, the disciples seem very sure of their faith in Jesus, ‘We believe that you came from God’. Jesus is a little more sanguine about their level of commitment to them, ‘Listen the time will come – in fact it has come already – when you will be scattered, each going his own way and leaving me alone’. This is exactly what transpired. The faith of the disciples which seemed so strong to themselves on the evening of the last supper would crumble on the next day. We are being reminded that our own faith journey can have its twists and turns, its ups and downs. At one time in our lives we can seem very sure of our faith, of our relationship with the Lord. At another time, we can unexpectedly, perhaps, find ourselves in a very different place. Yet, although we can change with regard to our faith in the Lord and our relationship with him, he does not change. He remains as faithful to us in the bad times as much as in the good times. Jesus goes on to tell his disciples that, in spite of leaving him alone, they will find peace in him. Although they will experience ‘trouble’ in the world, the Lord will be a stronger presence to them than those troubles. Indeed, the first words the risen Lord to his disciples after he appeared to them was ‘Peace be with you’. Even in times of personal failure the Lord wants us to know his peace, a peace the world cannot give.

And/Or

(viii) Monday, Seventh Week of Easter

This morning’s gospel reading brings to a close the long discourse of Jesus with his disciples on the night before he died. He will now turn to the Father in prayer and in the coming days we will hear sections of that great prayer of Jesus in the gospel reading. The discourse ends on both a note of realism and of hope. Jesus announces the faithlessness of his disciples when the hour of his passion arrives, ‘you will all be scattered, each of you going his own way’. We might be prompted to think of the times when we went our own way, rather than following faithfully in the way of Jesus, times when we put our own self-interests ahead of all other considerations. We are no better than those first disciples. They embody our ownweaknesses and failures. Yet, Jesus does not end his discourse on that note. He tells his disciples that he wants them to find peace in him. Jesus will be faithful to them, as he is to us. He continues to call us to remain in his love and in doing so to find peace, the peace which comes from knowing that we are loved in spite of our failures. Jesus then warns his disciples of troubles in the form of the hostility of those who have rejected Jesus’ vision for humanity, ‘in the world, you will have trouble’. We continue to experience that same hostility in our own time, even in these days. Yet, in spite of this hostility, the Lord encourages his disciplesand us to be courageous, in the knowledge that he has already conquered the forces opposed to his vision for humanity through his death and resurrection. In the end, his vision will triumph and God’s kingdom will come, in spite of hostility and setbacks. The Lord will keep bringing new life out of losses and failures.

And/Or

(ix) Monday, Seventh Week of Easter

There isa realismabout Jesus’ words to his disciples in this morning’s gospel reading. Although they seem very sure of their faith – ‘we believe that you came from God’ – Jesus tells his disciples bluntly that a time is coming when they will be scattered, each going his own way. Jesus warns themthat in the world, much of which is hostile to the values of the gospel, they will have trouble. Their faith will be put to the test, and they are about to fail the particular test that the passion and death of Jesus will bring to pass. Jesus is reminding all of us that we cannot take our faith for granted. It will be put to the test and we too will be tempted to go our own way rather than the way of Jesus. Yet, Jesus also reassures his disciples and all of us that he is stronger than the forces which will put our faith to the test, ‘I have conquered the world’. If we remain in communion with Jesus, we will draw strength from him. Indeed Jesus assures us that even in the midst of the trouble that the world of unbelief brings to us we will know his peace, ‘I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me’. The words of Jesus in this morning’s gospel reading encourage us to face the challenges to our faith, to the church, with confidence and courage, knowing that the Lord, through his death and resurrection, has already triumphed over the forces that are opposed to the gospel.

Fr. Martin Hogan.