Today's Gospel

The Illusion of Being Alone

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant. Today's reading is from the Gospel of John, 8:21-30. Remember, we're trying to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to a word or a phrase or an idea to capture our attention, to intrigue us, to capture our imagination, to bring the gospel alive in a new way. Again, Jesus said to them, "I go away, and you will seek me and die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come." Then said the Jews, "Will He kill Himself, since He says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?" He said to them, "You are from below. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am He." They said to Him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "Even what I have told you from the beginning, I have much to say about you and much to judge. But He who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from Him." They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me. And He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to Him." As He spoke this way, many believed in Him.

What is it that captures your attention today? Our little process of allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us toward a word or phrase or an idea, I think, is particularly important with a reading like this. Because of the literature and because of the phrasing, it can be confusing. And we can listen to a reading. And, I mean, like the people said - they didn't understand what He was saying - I think it is easy with some of these readings to think, "Well, what is this really all about?" And by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you to just a word or a phrase or an idea allows us to focus in on some of these readings that can be easy to get tripped up in or lost in or maybe even confused by. The word that jumped out at me today is in the last sentence, and the word is alone. Jesus said, "And He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone." I think loneliness is a huge theme in our society today. I think a lot of people feel alone. There are different times in life when we ourselves feel alone. We feel alone, maybe in a situation. You can be in a crowded room and feel alone. And that aloneness is an illusion, and Jesus is pointing that out today. He says, "He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone." He was talking about the Father. And Jesus has not left us alone, and the Father has not left us alone, and the Holy Spirit has not left us alone, and Mary and the saints have not left us alone.

We are not alone. We might feel alone at times, but that is an illusion. And I think it is important that we understand that it's illusion, that we understand that we're limiting our experience of reality. We might be limiting our experience of reality to this world. So if we take a walk up a mountain, and we're the only person on the mountain, we might think, "I am alone," and it's not true. It's true in the sense that if we limit our experience to just this world, then yes, in that sense, we could say, "I am alone on this mountain." But the reality is that if we open our eyes to the spiritual world that is always with us, God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Mary, the saints, all the angels, we are actually never alone. And so aloneness is a myth. Aloneness is a deception. Aloneness is an illusion. The devil absolutely wants you to feel alone because aloneness can be–it can be weighty. Aloneness can be depressing. Aloneness can be discouraging. Aloneness can be overwhelming. Aloneness is an illusion, and Jesus points that out clearly today. And so the one word alone is what the Holy Spirit used to capture my attention, but maybe he used a different word, phrase or idea for you to reflect upon today. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.