Saturday, VI Week
(John 16)
“We walk by faith and not by sight no gracious words we hear.” This popular hymn of not many years ago may leave us with a touch of nostalgia. “If only I could have seen him and heard him,” we may chide ourselves, “then I would not doubt at all.”
Of course, it would have been a privilege to know Jesus in the flesh. But he is telling us in the gospel today that we are better off to know him in the Spirit. In the flesh he needs to use “figures of speech” to help his disciples understand. In the Spirit he enlightens our minds from within. In the flesh he tells his disciples that he is the vine and we are the branches. In the Spirit he feeds us the Eucharist so that we have his life within us. In the flesh he is beyond the disciples' comprehension. (“Show us the Father and that will be enough for us,” the confused Philip tells Jesus) and so ask nothing in his name. In the Spirit he moves us "through Jesus Christ our Lord."
We are challenged to believe in a society where people openly express both doubt and denial. However, we can hear and take to heart the word of God in ways unknown to our grandparents. As much as ever Jesus’ Spirit is working within us to bolster our faith.
