In today’s Gospel Our Lord is not just preparing the disciples for life after his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, but also after his Ascension into Heaven. He is teaching them that their relationship, now and in the future, is not just knowing a guy who knows a Guy. The family is an icon of the Holy Trinity: a communion of persons, each loving and giving himself or herself completely to the others in that communion, and enjoying their unconditional love as well. A good friend to anyone’s son is likely to become a good friend to that son’s father too. The relationship to father and son never loses reference to either of them, but we can also say that thanks to one we’re drawn into a profounder respect and love for the other.
Our Lord has drawn the disciples, just as he’s drawn us, into a deeper knowledge and love of Our Father. We know we can count on God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for whatever we need; there are no forms to fill out, formalities to follow, exams to pass. Jesus has introduced us to the Father and with the Father will send us the Holy Spirit on Pentecost so that we can be a “part of the family”: adopted sons and daughters through the grace of Baptism, powered by Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, worked in us through the Holy Spirit, and desired from all eternity by the Father.
Let’s thank Our Lord today for enabling us to be part of the family, and, as he teaches us today, let’s not be afraid to ask God–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–for whatever we need to be truly happy.
Readings: Acts 18:23–28; Psalm 47:2–3, 8–10; John 16:23b–28.