Living Monstrance

“In the world you shall have distress.  But have confidence.  I have overcome the world.”  (Jn 16:33)  The Lord spoke these words to His apostles at the Last Supper, the night that He was betrayed and taken captive, and the day before He was crucified to death.

Now, hold that thought and bear with me as I fast-forward to the next night, after Jesus has been crucified and buried.  All the disciples that fled in fear are gathered in a room, in shock.  I can picture a conversation: “Didn’t He just tell us that He had overcome the world?  But now He’s dead and buried.  He was just rejected by the Roman government, our own religious authorities, all the people who He helped and even strangers who never knew Him.  He was hung naked in front of His mother at the main entrance to the city.  Overcome the world?  I don’t get it.  He’s dead.”

They never expected the Resurrection.

But you know what?  It’s not like the Lord didn’t tell them about it.  Oh yes, on many occasions He told them that He must suffer and die and then rise on the third day.

But the disciples couldn’t understand.  They couldn’t get past “suffer and die”.  They couldn’t fit that into their understanding of the reality of things, never mind “rising from the dead”.  So, when that dark moment came, “rising from the dead” was nowhere on the radar screen.  Their whole world was shattered.  They were terrified and ran away.  They left Jesus - and they missed out on the greatest moment in human history.

Now, we have an advantage because we know the story.  Does it seem like it’s dark in the Church right now?  We have a priest abuse scandal, church closings, a famine of inspiration.  How about in the rest of the world?  We have the rat race, the presidential race, war, terrorism.  How about locally?  We have little left for marriages and families and neighborhoods, a lot of locked doors and fear and mistrust.

It’s a great time to be with Jesus.  It’s a great time to recall His words:  “In the world you shall have distress.  But have confidence.  I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33)

Remember the Resurrection.