Yesterday, we noted that the Father's plan for us is not only to save us, but also to sanctify us. The Father longs to make us holy. And so He sends His Son to save us and then the Holy Spirit to sanctify us.
Jesus knows this plan and speaks of it at the Last Supper, which is the context of the Gospel reading today. We have been reading from the Last Supper for a while in the Easter season and there are so many treasures there.
In this passage, Jesus says, "If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father." That is to say, If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to my death now and to the Resurrection and then to heaven at the Ascension.
Jesus gives the reason; He says, "The world must know that I love the Father."
I love the Father.
Oftentimes, when we think of our religion, we think it revolves around us: what I have to do, how Jesus died for me, what is my prayer life like, etc. But, at the center of our religion is the fact that Jesus has done everything -- including dying for you and me -- not only because He loves you and me, but firstly because He loves the Father.
This is where things get interesting.
You see, the Son loves the Father. And the Father loves the Son. And their love is so personal, so perfect, so eternal, and so infinite that their love is God: the Holy Spirit.
Let me put all of this together, then: Jesus says "you would rejoice that I am going to the Father" because this means not only that Jesus is going home to heaven, but it also means that the plan has been accomplished and the Holy Spirit, the Love of the Father and the Son, can be poured out upon the earth to recreate her, to "renew the face of the earth."
A person who lives in the Holy Spirit, then, has the peace of which Jesus says today; if you are in the love of the Father of the Son, you have no need to let your hearts be troubled or afraid, even when faced with the certainty of a Cross.
Jesus tells His Apostles this -- that He is going to be crucified, but that this crucifixion will end in Resurrection and ultimately in the pouring out of the Holy Spirit -- in the Upper Room, which happens to be the place not only of the Last Supper, but of where the Holy Spirit was first poured forth at Pentecost.
Admittedly, these may be big thoughts for an early morning, but it is the source of our Easter joy: Crosses can become Glory; men can be received into Eternal Communion.
These thoughts, too (I hope) give our Easter Season deeper purpose and direction. The Easter Season isn't over; nor are these days a mere interlude before the green vestments of Ordinary Time. In a way somewhat analogous to Advent when we awaited the coming of Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, in these days we are now awaiting and preparing for the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit.
May our hearts and minds be prepared for Him when He comes at Pentecost!
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