Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
The message that Jesus speaks to us today is difficult to hear. He speaks of the hatred for the Gospel that he experienced, and which put him on the cross. And he assures us that we will experience the same hatred. And he says to us “they will do these things because they do not know the one who sent me.” This is reminiscent of what he prayed as he was being nailed to the cross: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”
But Jesus came that we might come to know the One who sent him, and in knowing Him, that we might change. We come to know the Father best by His response to our worst sin, killing His Son Jesus by hanging him on the cross. And all of us are complicit in this through our sins. But God show His great love for us by raising Jesus, and continuing to call us to return to Him, and to turn away from our sins.
Remember what happened with St. Paul. He rejected Christ and even persecuted Christians, but he turned and became one of the greatest of apostles. God wills that all be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (1Tm 2:4). We should want the same thing and work and pray for this.
Reflection by Fr. Aquinas Keusenkothen, OSB
Posted in Article for Easter, Daily Reflections