Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter
In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us that he is going in order to prepare a place for us. He says further that when he has prepared this place for us, he will return and take us to himself. This passage is from Chapter 14 of the Gospel of John and is part of the Last Supper Discourse of that gospel. So, when Jesus speaks of going in order to prepare a place for us, he is speaking about his own death, and the place he prepares for us is in Heaven. When he speaks of returning, he is, of course, speaking of his resurrection. But I also like to think that he is also speaking of our deaths; that this is the moment in our lives when he comes to each of us in order to take us to himself and bring us to Heaven.
Death is a fearsome thing, and we don’t really like to think about our own death, but it becomes a little less fearsome if we see it as the moment when Christ himself comes to collect us and take us home to Heaven. It can give us some comfort also, when we recognize that this is what our loved ones experienced in their own departure from this world; Jesus himself coming to them to guide them home.
Reflection by Fr. Aquinas Keusenkothen, OSB
Posted in Article for Easter, Daily Reflections