FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD
May 16, 2023 Sixth Tuesday of Easter
WORD of the DAY
Jesus said to his
disciples: “Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks
me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I told you this, grief has filled your
hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send
him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world in regard to sin and
righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness,
because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation,
because the ruler of this world has been condemned.” (John 16: 5-11)
How shall I live this Word? 
The disciple of Jesus is not spared sadness. We could call it, according to a broader expression used by St. Ignatius of Loyola, spiritual desolation, extending sadness to a wider set of emotions, such as upsets, darkness, tensions, fears, loss of energy and positive mood.
When we find ourselves in desolation, it is important to understand that it too can ultimately play a positive role in our spirit, because it helps us not to pin our hopes on false goals and idols and not to trust ourselves too much. It strips us of everything that does not conform to God’s will and helps us to dig within ourselves to find the precious pearl or to build the house on rock foundations and not on the quicksand of more external tastes.
Just as the disciples were sad because they had to get used to a new way of entering into a relationship with Jesus, no longer in the flesh but through the Holy Spirit, so sadness can also be an important indicator for us, to distance us from what prevents us from knowing Jesus in an ever-new way and get used to internally enjoying the action of the Spirit in us.
In fact, the Holy Spirit leads us in our life and illuminates the depths of our heart, to understand the areas of shadow, of disbelief, of hardness, in a word of ‘sin’ that are still within us and in this way, it leads us to a fuller and more mature adherence to God.
Lord, I thank Your name for Your love and faithfulness.
The voice of Khalil Gibran, Poet
Spiritual awakening is the most essential thing in human life. It is the only goal of life.
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E-mail: srmterzo@gmail.com Website: www.sanbiagio.org info@sanbiagio.org Blog: livingscripture.wordpress.com Comment: Sr. Yarislet Berrios, FMA
