Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter
In today’s first reading, we read of Paul’s travels from Athens to Corinth. As usual, Paul had begun preaching Christ in the synagogue, but was met with opposition. After multiple rejections from the Jewish community, Paul became angry. Perhaps in this moment he was convinced of his vocation to the Gentiles, who had been more receptive. After going to live with Titus Justus, a Gentile, Paul must have been surprised to learn that Crispus, the synagogue official, and his family wanted to be baptized. Contrary to Paul’s expectation, the conversion of a Jewish household became the seed of the church in Corinth. Clearly, the path that God has planned is not always obvious to us.
Likewise in today’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples, “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” I can only imagine that the room was filled with whispers and puzzled faces. Jesus was foreshadowing his death and resurrection. He will be taken from them by death but that will not be the end. Their grief will be turned to joy. The disciples were confused, and maybe also resistant to Jesus’ message. The disciples had come to depend on one way of being with Jesus, and couldn’t imagine what God had in store for them with the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church.
Can we think of the times when we’re stuck in our own limited imaginations? Maybe we become fixated on one way of praying, adopt a particular view of the scriptures, or a certain perspective of the church. What Jesus said to the disciples, he also says to us: be patient and trust. As we read the verse to today’s Alleluia, “I will not leave you orphans, says the Lord; I will come back to you, and your hearts will rejoice,” let us pray that we can be open to the new and unexpected ways we can take up Christ’s mission in the world.
-Jessica Gabrielli