Sixth Sunday of Easter

Lectionary: 55

I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.


I have sometimes heard old people grieving their long dead parents. Their grief goes beyond missing a loved one; they think they are orphans. I visited one bedridden woman on First Friday for several years and she always complained, "I have no father; I have no mother." She could not tell me anything about her parents; that memory had faded away. But she "knew" she was abandoned and alone. There was nothing I could say or do to relieve her sorrow. 
The disciples of Jesus felt that loss as he ascended into heaven. He had been with them such a short time! Some scholars say his ministry lasted as long as three years, and his post-resurrection appearances lasted forty days. It was not very long when the disciples could say he has been away longer than he was with us. 
And yet they kept the faith. They followed his instruction, carrying the message to the whole world. They made the necessary adjustments as the Gospel was announced in many languages, and as they learned to eat foods they'd never supposed was edible. 
Through all their adventures, from the documents we have in the New Testament, the disciples showed little nostalgia for things passed or regret for things lost. If they no longer "saw" the Lord, they knew he lived in them. 
We have never lost that immediate sense of God's presence. We refer to it in many ways, but especially with the doctrine of the "Real Presence" in the Blessed Sacrament. The bread is really his flesh; and the wine, his blood. We describe his being with us also with the language and images of the Old Testament, the shekhina and the cloud. 
We feel his immediacy in the Spirit which encourages and guides us. There are no guarantees of success in our work. No preacher can point to the converts he has won; no parents should point to the children they have born, raised, and instructed in the faith. We sometimes see the KIngdom of God flourishing like ripened wheat, but as often we feel the anxiety of planting mustard seeds.
Even the anxiety, longing, and sense of abandonment -- the saints tell us -- are powerful witnesses of God's presence with us. Feeling orphaned is also a sign of God's closeness. Has anyone heard of a criminal grumbling about distractions in prayer?" 

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.

Americans, working through this pandemic, may feel abandoned by the nations since we abandoned our position of leadership. But Christians see the hand of God with us. We're doing what we can to accompany and accommodate one another through this crisis. We practice social distancing even as we reach out with food, shelter, and cheerful reassurances. During our moments of anxiety, realizing that the future is far less certain than we have ever known it, we turn again to prayer -- even stream-lined Masses! -- for direction, guidance, and encouragement.