In our Gospel, it gives us a scene in which Jesus finally takes leave of his disciples. How will the disciples react on this? How will they respond to the loss of someone whom a bond was formed? Well, in our personal experience, we grieve after suffering a significant loss. While grieving is difficult, it must not immobilize us. Sad to say, most people who have lost someone they love experience sleeplessness, depression, and fatigue. Jesus probably knows this. So before he departs to his Father, he leaves his disciples with responsibilities though their grief has not yet subsided. Jesus knows that before grief will overwhelm his disciples, he wants them to begin the day by looking for reasons to hope. Jesus gives them comforting and motivating perspective. Jesus entrusted to his disciples a task and then he assured them of his divine assistance, saying –Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
My dear friends, our grief reveals our inclination to the past, but as it passes, it can open doors to a better future. And so for Jesus, we have to do something though we grieve. We do not just sit down and do nothing. We cannot afford to waste our time when we know we cannot take back what we have lost. We have to convince ourselves that it is time to move on. Life must go on. Just like the disciples, we need to listen to the last message of Jesus, and then our grief will soon turn to hope.
Moreover, we have to learn from this Gospel that in one way or another, we will be going to face the reality of losing someone we love. And so to avoid guilt and regrets later, we have to do our best for the people we love while with them.
