Thursday in the Sixth Week of Easter, May 21, 2020

John 16:16-20

Jesus said to his disciples: “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks? We do not know what he means.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

Although the Thursday in the sixth week of Easter is Ascension Thursday, the U.S. bishops have transferred the celebration of this Solemnity to the following Sunday.  The present Gospel reading is from the Mass that is offered in place of that for Ascension Thursday.

When Jesus says, “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me,” he is speaking to the Apostles and to every Christian since that time.  In St. John’s Gospel, Jesus is saying this at the end of his discourse at the Last Supper.  At that time, he is referring to his Death and Resurrection: he will be arrested and will die on the Cross and be buried, and they will not see him.  But then he rises from the dead, departs his tomb, and appears to them, so they will see him again.  Afterwards, he will ascend into heaven and they will not see him.  After their deaths, the Apostles will see him in heaven.  Indeed, the beatific vision  constitutes heaven.

Note that in all this, Jesus only says that they will not see him.  He does not say that he will cease to be present with them.  His “departure” is physical only.  His divinity never “leaves” them.  We remember that he said to them at the point of his Ascension into heaven, “And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Matthew 28, 20).  He disappears from sight, but he does not go away.

None of us have seen the Lord walk the earth, and yet we believe in him, taking comfort in the Lord’s words to Thomas: “Blessed are they that have not seen and have believed” (John 20, 29).  Yet we have felt his presence in our lives, sometimes for extended periods, and to different degrees.  He allows us this in order to console us, to strengthen us, and to help us imagine what it will be like to actually enjoy his embrace, which helps us to persevere.  In this way, we “see” him.  And we have all had the experience of emptiness in which we do not feel his presence.  That is, we do not “see” him.  He allows this too, in order to help us to grow in our faith, for if we only believe when it is easy, that is not much.  It is when we believe when there seems no reason to do so that we truly believe.  The same with love of him and hope in him.  Knowing this does not provide much help in the moment, however.  It is a grievous experience to be in love with someone and to not know when or if  we are going to see that person again. Yet this is the experience of the greatest saints.  Mother Teresa lived through this for years, and St. Therese of Lisieux writes very movingly about how this affected her, and how she suffered terrible temptations against the Faith during those times. By “disappearing”, the Lord calls forth greater faith from the ones he loves; and by remaining present, he helps them to increase in it.  St. Paul sums up this experience: “For whom the Lord loves, he chastises; and he scourges every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12, 6).

The day will come, if we hold firm now, when we will say with the forsaken Job, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth. And I shall be clothed again with my flesh, and in my flesh I shall see my God, whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another: this my hope is laid up in my bosom” (Job 19, 25).