DO NOT FALL INTO DESPAIR

V SUNDAY OF EASTER: Jn 14:1-12

So many times we loose hope and feel lost, and we may fall into despair, unable to find a way out of our troubles and anguishes.

We are only able to pass through suffering, when we see the flashing of light or the brightness of a star, even if distant, in the darkness of the nigh in which we struggle to find a way.

The prophet Isaiah expressed already that situation of hopelessness, when he wrote:

“We grope like the blind along a wall,

groping like those who have no eyes;

we stumble at noon as in the twilight” (Is 59:10).

Indeed, we look for light, but in vain,

until the light of Jesus Christ illumine us

and scatters the darkness in our hearts.

Jesus’ words in this Sunday’s gospel sound reassuring: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” And he invites us to put our trust in him. If we do so, we will not be disappointed. As we walk through the paths of life, we know that we are not alone. Jesus is our companion of journey, walking in front of us to clear the way. He will make sure that we will arrive at our destination.

In one of the big trucks passing along Solwezi-Chingola road loaded with copper ore, there is this message: “I am not alone!” None of us moves alone along the road of life. We are in the company of so many other fellow travellers, and among them all there is the unseen, but always present and always close companion, Jesus Christ. He is the Way, and in him we find truth and life.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled”. To the Apostles, he repeated time and again: Do not be afraid! I am here with you. We are in good company, and He is a good guide, who cannot miss the way, because he is the Way.

Jesus reminds us that we do not belong here. Here, we are passing by, walking towards our permanent home. In the Father’s house, there are plenty of dwelling places, prepared and ready to welcome us, whenever we arrive.

One day, Jesus will come to take us. He does not want to be separated from us: “I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also”. (Jn 14:3)