The moment is very serious! The Lord announces to his disciples that he is visibly moving away from them, yet he wants to leave them in peace and not in turmoil. This peace is acquired and preserved by observing his word. The words of the Lord Jesus are particularly dense: now Jesus will no longer be at hand, passing to the Father inaugurates a new way of living the relationship. We could say that the presence of him to which the disciples are not only accustomed by now, but rightly also deeply connected, will now be “within reach of the heart”. In this way Christ, through the mystery of his Passover, will become within the reach of every man and woman who open themselves to faith by welcoming the love of the Father and of the Son who by now has a face and a name: Holy Spirit. It is not a question of a decrease in presence, but of a dizzying leap in quality which allows each of the disciples to live the same life as the Master. The promise is solemn: I’ll be back! The Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name is the author of this continuous return of Christ in our life. The time between Easter and the Parousia is the time of the secret visits of the Word in the power of the Spirit. There are five promises of the Spirit during the Last Supper and the second concerns one of the main characteristics of the Paraclete: he will teach and remember. If we are docile to his motions and intuitions, then we will not be able to impose any other obligation than that of a serene and symphonic freedom, true face of double fidelity to God and to man that guarantee the requisite goods of self-giving love and peace. This is the time of the Lamb’s presence in the hearts of believers, this is Jerusalem equipped with twelve doors so that the high walls create intimacy inside without leaving anyone excluded outside.

Commentary by b. Michael David, osb Community of the Koinonia de la Visitation

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey