(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
In this chapter Jesus is speaking to his disciples at the Last Supper. He speaks about his coming down from the Father and his return to the Father. The disciples speak at intervals. In today’s reading, they say that they understand what his is trying to say.
Jesus, however, says that they only think they understand or know. Before the end of the day, the disciples will be scattered and leave Jesus alone. Jesus, however, assures them that he will always have the Father and never really be alone: Jesus has overcome the world.
We are disciples of the Lord Jesus. We tend to think we know what the Lord is talking about in his relationship with the Father. On the other hand, we are like the original disciples, liable to run off at the first difficulty. We hesitate to share our vaccines with other nations; we hesitate to welcome people into the safety of our borders; we refuse to give stimulus checks to some who really need them; we tend to hoard our extra money; and we tend to be selfish in other ways also. What part of following Jesus do we truly understand?
Jesus says that he has shared his life with us so that we can have his peace. He has peace because he has shared his life with us. We have peace only when we pass that peace on to others. Our indigenous peoples learned to share wealth with each other. They thought that no one could be happy if the rest of the tribe were unhappy. They believed that one could only win a contest if everybody would win together. Their games were not individual contests, but group events. This is why Jesus shared his life with us, because he could only be happy if we were happy with him.
Jesus conquered the world through his glorification, that is, through his dying and rising. It was only after Jesus had risen from the dead that the first disciples would learn the full meaning of what Jesus was talking about in this passage of the Gospel. It is only after we understand more fully and deeply the meaning and effects of the dying and rising of Jesus that we will be able to share our lives with all the others in the world.
When we understand fully, there will be no difference between black and white, male and female, rich and poor, healthy and sick, those in prison and those in freedom, this race and that race, this nationality and that nationality, this people and that people, because all will have the same happiness and peace. This is what it means to conquer the world. Anything other than this is trouble, war and destruction.