Jn 15:26–16:4a
From the Father, I will send you the Spirit of truth. When this Helper has come from the Father, he will be my witness, and you, too, will be my witnesses, for you have been with me from the beginning.
I tell you all this to keep you from stumbling and falling away. They will put you out of the synagogue. Still more, the hour is coming, when anyone who kills you will claim to be serving God; they will do this, because they have not known the Father or me. I tell you all these things now so that, when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them.
REFLECTION
“Daylight, I must wait for the sunrise. I must think of a new life. And I mustn’t give in. When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory too. And the new day will begin.” (Memory) Remembrance of what had happened can be either traumatic or invigorating. Traumatic, if one doesn’t go beyond the pain; invigorating, when pain leads to healing.
The Jews make present the Exodus through the ritual food and story of that event. The Eucharist brings to life again and again the paschal mystery. We enter into Christ’s saving actions every time we remember what he commanded us to do in his memory.
Some of us don’t go beyond the surface of the rituals. Though rituals are needed to lead us to Christ, the Center of the Eucharist, yet overemphasis on them can distract one from the true reason why we remember. Jesus rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees for having stressed the peripherals of washing cups, pots and kettles, and neglecting the essentials of the Commandments. “I never go to church,” a wandering member said. “The reason is because there are so many hypocrites there.” “Come,” the priest said. “There’s always a room for one more.”
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