A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.
Jesus said to his disciples: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to
you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be
troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going
away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am
going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told
you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. I will
no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no
power over me; but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may
know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way (John 14, 27-31). This is the word of the Lord.
In today’s gospel selection, the last sentence caught my attention:
Rise, let us be on our way. It lies at the end of John’s chapter 14 and it
seems to close Christ’s farewell discourse to his disciples after having
participated in the Last Supper he had eagerly desired to eat with them. But
Jesus’ discourse goes on for another three chapters. Bible scholars discuss
this matter at length. This is not the place to expand on this discussion. I
only want to quote St. Thomas Aquinas who, commenting on this reading from
John’s gospel recalls St. John Chrysostom saying that “He [Jesus] said this
because he saw they [the disciples] were afraid, … Consequently they were not
paying attention to what he was saying. So Christ led them to another hidden
place, so that feeling more secure they could listen with more attention to
what he would say to them and understand it better” (Commentary on John’
gospel, Ch14, Lecture 8, no 1977).
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