In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us ““I have told you this so that you may not fall away.” Jesus had a great concern for his disciples and for all of us today. He was warning us that others would hate us and mistreat us if we truly followed him.
Jesus was concerned that we would turn away from our faith when trials, persecution, failures, and disappointments happen to us. Jesus was giving the disciples encouragement that the Holy Spirit would remind them what he taught them and teach them new things as well as give them strength and courage to preach the Risen Lord.
Jesus wanted them to know what to expect so they would continue to build the Church here on earth. The Holy Spirit of truth emboldened the disciples to preach and endure mistreatment for the sake of the Gospel.
This is exactly what happened. When the disciples were expelled from the synagogues, they continued to preach with fervor and built the church with Peter as the leader. It was not easy. The Apostles endured beatings, jail and attempts on their lives but them continued to build the church, preaching the Gospel that Jesus taught them.
Father Richard Rohr recently wrote
Throughout the history of Christianity, it would seem Jesus’ teaching has had little impact, except among people who surrendered to great love and great suffering. Could this be the real core of the Gospel? (And here I think of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.) Such people experience God rather than merely have disconnected ideas about God. We need practice-based religion that teaches us how to connect with the Infinite in ways that actually change us from our finite perspectives.
We must rediscover what St. Francis of Assisi called the “marrow of the Gospel.” In the year 1205, Jesus spoke to Francis through the San Damiano cross: “Francis, rebuild my church, for you see it is falling into ruin.”
It is the Marrow of the Gospel that St Francis talked about that gives us the ability to focus on the needs of others and rebuild the Church. We do this by helping those around us. We happily drive those who need a ride to the doctor, sit with the lonely, provide food to those who are hungry, and speak out when we see unjust treatment of others.
If God has little impact in our lives, if we are disconnected and practice our Christianity in a ho hum method, we will never change the world around us. If we have a practice-based religion like Fr Richard described, we can and will change those around us by our example. This is what Jesus called us to do. The Holy Spirit is with us even today to help us surrender our lives to God’s great love and give us strength and courage to tell others about our Risen Lord.
Lord, help us to truly follow you and make us instruments of your Love that we might share our Risen Lord with the world around us.
