Gospel Reading: Jn 14:21-26
Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, “Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name – he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”
REFLECTION You will reveal yourself… to the world?
At the Last Supper, after Jesus has opened his heart to his disciples and revealed to them his intimate union with the Father, and also with them, Judas, not the Iscariot (the only time Jude the Apostle is given a role in the Gospels), asks him, “Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” This revelation has to do with the glory of Jesus after he has resurrected, “lifted up” on the cross. With Jesus revealing himself in glory, people will believe that he indeed is the Messiah. This will be the experience of Saul/Paul of Tarsus when he encounters the glorious Christ on the way to Damascus.
The Apostles ask the risen Christ the same question before his ascension: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6). Will the resurrection mark the public, universal manifestation of Jesus as Messiah? Is the end of time, of history, then at hand? Jesus says that the time is known only to the Father. Meanwhile, salvation history continues as the Holy Spirit descends upon the believers to guide and strengthen them to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
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Do you believe in the Parousia, the Second Coming of Christ, and his universal manifestation? Would you welcome it if it happens in your lifetime?
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.