Saturday of the Third Week of Easter
There is no other Lord
Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Jn 6,60-69
For the disciple of the Lord, there always comes a moment of crisis, the temptation to go back, as it happened to us. Today, we would like to understand when and why it happens. First, however, let us see the reason why we have taken the road and each morning we meet and pray together around this table. Today, the reason is revealed by Peter’s answer: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God”. We are also aware that, among the ephemeral nonsense and the many words that we hear and say during the day, the only ones that enlighten us, guide us, and have an eternal flavour are those that the Lord tells us in the morning. We can also say: “You are the Holy One of God, the Messiah. With you, life has a flavor and a different meaning. With you everything is a miracle, nothing is impossible. You constantly give answers to the questions that we have been keeping in our hearts for a lifetime”. Why, then, sometimes we just want to get away? The answer is: “The Cross”. It is difficult to accept that one must pass through the cross in order to win the bet of life, but this is it: the victory of the gospel must pass through the defeat. Meditating on the Scriptures and living as his followers, we realize that the Lord is truly “otherwise” than everything that we know and that the world proposes to us: human models, lifestyles, goals to achieve. He appears as “totally Other” when, against our thoughts and our existential models, he proposes us to win by passing through the defeat of the cross. It is for this reason that sometimes feel like running away. However, we stand because we repeat ourselves Peter’s words: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”.