In today’s Gospel, Jesus prepares His disciples for a different way of life, one where He is no longer physically present with them. He reminds them of His love for them, and teaches that they need to respond to that love and to express it, so that others may know that they are disciples of Jesus. As we hear throughout the Acts of the Apostles, the early disciples constantly had to face misunderstanding and even hostility. They faced crises – and they had to make major decisions about their identity as the Church.
Like the first disciples, we too are followers of Christ, and Christ calls us, as He called them, to be witnesses of His love for all. We are called to decide, like St. Paul and St. Peter early on in the Church’s life, what sort of community we should be: should we be restricted and closed, in order to protect ourselves and our faith; or should we be open, compassionate and welcoming? The early Church chose to reach out to others. Many people today are afraid of those who are different from them – and this fear limits them. The early disciples must have been afraid at times too, but their faith was so strong that they faced their challenges with confidence. Through prayer, through reflection and through meaningful conversation with others, we too can face our own challenges with confidence and trust in God.