May 5 Fifth Sunday of Easter, Jn14/1-12

BACKGROUND

In the May Gospels we turn from the Resurrection appearances of Jesus, to his "last supper" discourse in chapters 14, 15, and 16 of St. John's Gospel. While this long, mystical and theological meditation on Jesus, his life, his work, and his relationship with his followers is placed in John's narrative before the arrest and execution of Jesus, it in fact can be considered most fully in light of the experience of Jesus which the early Christians had, an experience of the Jesus who was once dead as now alive again and in active communion with them. It reveals the enormous affection Jesus had for his friends and companions, his great care and concern for them, the need for him to leave them behind, and his guarantee that, despite the separation, he would always be with them. This experience of Jesus surely went back to the very beginning though John's soaring rhetoric is a well developed reflection on that experience. While it is difficult for us to comprehend all that John is trying to say, it is easy enough to grasp that today's Gospel and those of the next two Sundays are about his passionate affection for his companions - and for us.

STORY

Once upon a time a great leader decided that he had ruled his country long enough. He was still in the prime of life, but he had lost his wife, his son was old enough to succeed him, and the leader wanted to spend the rest of his time on earth in a monastery reading and writing, praying and reflecting. Truth to tell he was tired of the world, tired of the burdens of office, tired of the distractions of daily life. He called his family and his advisers and his poets together and told them that it was time h stepped down. He had ruled long enough. He was growing rusty and stale on the job. It was time for new leadership, new blood, new ideas, new vision. Everyone protested, most of all the crown prince who felt utterly inadequate to replace his father. The leader understood their reaction and was deeply moved by it. But, he said, it was time for him to withdraw, time that his family and friends be on their own, he had done his part in reorganizing the country and making it peaceful and prosperous, now it was their turn to take over and stand for all the things he had stood for during his life. I'll always be with you, he said. And if you ever need help - and I don't think you will - I will come back. But it is time for you to become mature, to act like adults, to lead in my name but without me. Jesus is giving us the same message. It is time for us to be confident adult Christians.