REFLECTIONS TODAY
Today’s Gospel belongs to the farewell conversation of Jesus with his disciples at the Last Supper. Judas’ exit during the meal to betray his teacher officially begins Jesus’ passion. Jesus will be arrested and crucified. At this moment, he informs the disciples of his departure and tries to calm their troubled hearts. He promises the Advocate who will come to take his place. The Advocate will comfort and defend them in their adversities. He will be their guide and instructor in remembering and living out all that Jesus had taught them. Jesus enjoins them to keep his words as a sign of their love for him. This love will be the disciples’ mark of communion with the Father and the Son: “We will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” Jesus underlines the inseparable unity between him and the Father. He tells them that his words are the words of the Father and are therefore meant to be observed.
In this farewell conversation, Jesus leaves them a precious gift, peace. Peace in Hebrew is shalom.
However, its concept also means wholeness, health, safety, prosperity, and permanence.
Jesus gives peace to the disciples in a more profound way. For the world, peace means cessation of hostilities; for Jesus, peace is the knowledge that God’s will is being fulfilled. This was the experience of the early Christian communities in the First Reading. Dissension and controversy resulted from the teachings of some who taught the Christians in Antioch without the instructions of the Apostles. The community in love and with the spirit of dialogue resolved them by tracing the action of God in the life of the Gentile converts. Peace for these Christian communities did not mean the absence of conflict, but being able to see the pattern of God’s love working in one’s life. Peace is being in touch with God’s ways and having the firmness to do his will. This is what gives one’s sense of wholeness and permanence in discipleship.
SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.