Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter
We can imagine the elderly St. John the Evangelist remembering his early years with the Lord Jesus. Surely the passage of time in exile and the mystery of grace shaped a wonderful perspective.
The early Church continued to collect and pass those treasured memories forward. Something beautiful was happening. Masterpieces of teaching and heartfelt prayer, committed to memory and liturgy, were being lifted in reverence and care. This reverence established a lasting and inspired authority.
All this is found in the words of Jesus to his disciples in today’s Gospel about hearing and responding to prayer. Notice how clearly there is assurance that genuine prayer offered with sincerity of heart will always be heard with abundant divine generosity. That solid assurance naturally flows from the time-tested personal experience of John, “the one whom Jesus loved.” But at the same time, Jesus reminds us that the true nature of the gift of God’s love is to see how it radiates outward throughout the ripples of life. The life-tested wisdom of someone like St. John tells us that our capacity to experience love and joy is first dependent upon our ability and desire to pass the gift forward. Could this be the most practical Christian interpretation of that familiar phrase: “what goes around, comes around?”
Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB
Posted in Article for Easter, Daily Reflections