Reflection: John 16: 5-11
With today’s passage begins the third part of the farewell discourse of Jesus. Many scholars believe that the rest of the chapter would repeat most of the points raised in Chapter 14. Although John presents one single long teaching of Jesus during the Last Supper, but in reality, Jesus may have given these teachings to his disciples after his resurrection. Jesus is about to leave the scene and the hearts of the disciples are filled with sadness. In him they had found new hopes and believed they would be in important positions in the new kingdom that Jesus would establish. They had also found in him understanding and mercy in the face of their weaknesses. With Jesus they had experienced the greatness of the heart – love of God who loves us beyond all limits, beyond all miseries. With Jesus they had felt strong and capable of transforming the world. But now he is leaving. They will be left alone. Discouragement spreads among them. What are they going to do? The leader disappears and it seems that nothing makes sense anymore, that the path they had begun with Jesus, now leads nowhere and that it is better to return home. A feeling of failure overwhelms them. But Jesus promises that he will send them his Spirit. The Spirit will give them strength. The Spirit will help them find their way. But, it would be childish to imagine the Holy Spirit to come in an apparition and will continually tell them what to do. God wants us to be adults, free and responsible for our own decisions, capable of taking risks and, of course, of making mistakes and starting over. God does not want us to remain eternal children who always need a hand to lead and guide. The Spirit is not there to tell us what to do the next minute, but to help us grow and make our own decisions. The Spirit illuminates for us the horizon to move on towards the Kingdom, the fraternity of the sons and daughters of God, where no one is excluded. And it encourages us to make our own way, to make the decisions that will make this world the home of all the sons and daughters of God. The Spirit is not a small voice but a flame that sets our hearts on fire and encourages us to grow and live in freedom, at the service of the Kingdom. And like Paul and Silas (of the first reading), we will face the difficulties, but do not be discouraged. Because the Kingdom is worth all the struggles.