A Jesuit Catholic University
in Omaha, Nebraska, since 1878

[297] Acts 19:1-8;  Ps 68:2-3ab, 4-5acd, 6-7ab;  John 16:29-33

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

Reading through today’s gospel, I was incredibly struck by the compassion of the disciples. When Jesus tells the disciples that he will be leaving them and they will scatter each to their own home, the first assurance Jesus gives is not the disciples will not be alone. Rather, his first assurance is that he, Jesus, will not be alone “so that you might have peace in me.”  The disciples’ first worry when they hear that Jesus is leaving them is that Jesus will be alone. This is such a beautiful transformation from the worrying people locked up in the room. The transformation of the Holy Spirit and mark of true Christian is not only a confidence in one’s beliefs, but an outward concern that always puts others first. Jesus shows tremendous love in this passage (he offers them courage in a troubled world), but it’s the love shown by the disciples that I am, for some reason, really attracted to. Maybe it is because I know how difficult that sort of love can be.

This type of outward centered compassion is a goal that I hope to live up to. I know that when I am in difficult situations I struggle to think about what is affecting me. It is so easy to get caught up in my own worries of tests, finding a job after graduation, and just making enough money to get through the month that I hardly think of those people who face conditions much worse. What about those who've been with years of unemployment or those who do not know where their next meal is coming from? I am still struggling with it, but I pray that my own troubles and difficulties will be reminders of those going through similar troubles and do what I can to help them. Hopefully you all do the same, and in the end we are all true disciples, helping each other get through whatever it is that we may need.