Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 1, 2005
"Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit." (Acts 8:5-17) "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you" (John 14:15-21)

Since Easter we have witnessed Jesus' gradually preparing his followers for life without him physically among them. He now addresses his disciples in tender words, "I will not leave you orphans...". He assures us that we will continue to be with him in the life of his Spirit. Peter and John go to Samaria to welcome a group "who had accepted the word of God", and "lay hands" on them in the Holy Spirit.

I wonder if we don't miss some of the profound reality expressed here, especially when we come to these passages already certain of their meaning based on our religious traditions. Jesus says many times that his hearers had a hard time understanding what he was saying. He seems to say very clearly here that anyone who trusts him will have the same destiny as he, unity in love with his heavenly Father. The only condition is that we follow the commandments written in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps Jesus was trying to say to his disciples that his departure was an necessary condition of being with us in a much more profound and permanent way. "On that day", that is, on the day when we most acutely experience his absence, we will realize that we have been drawn into the life of his Father in much the same way that he has. Our heavenly Father has the same home for us that he has for Jesus, the "home" created and sustained in an eternity of love.

This is the most real of all realities, beyond the illusions of time and space. None of this would have been possible without Jesus' willingness to fully embrace human nature in all of its strength and weakness. The heart and soul of our faith is that the Most High has not remained hidden away in heaven, above and beyond us. God has become human. We humans have a divine and eternal destiny in the Holy Spirit. This was the world into which the disciples were initiated by the Holy Spirit and which they pass on to us in the laying on of hands.

An old friend of mine wrote me today about the "reframing of your predicament". Now, when we look ahead to our own death or that of someone dear to us, we know that we all arrive together at the same moment. Heaven is not far away. Isn't the reality of eternity a wonderful alternative context in which to place our present hurts, divisions, resentments and predicaments?