In today’s
Gospel
Jesus promises us that “I will not leave you orphaned; I will
come back to you and you will have life.” Our faith, nurtured
in this great paschal season, tells us that God-made-flesh is
God-with-us, never abandoning us and always filling us with life.
It should be a great comfort to all of us, who share in the pain and
suffering of ordinary life, to know that the Spirit of Jesus is with
us always. It should be especially comforting to know that Jesus
will not leave orphaned all those whom the world casts aside: the
poor and homeless, the racial and ethnic minorities, the sick and
dying, the prisoner and the refugee.
Jesus loves us so much that, even after his death, resurrection, and ascension, he remains with us. He is, after all, Emanuel, ‘God with us,’ but now through his living, sanctifying Spirit.
We now encounter him in new ways: in other human beings; in any place where people gather in his name; in the inspired words of Holy Scripture; in his Church, particularly her liturgical celebrations; in the person of his minister; and especially in the sacraments.U.S. Bishops, The Eucharist and the Hungers
of the Human Family, 1975.