Standing where we are liturgically, on the cusp of the Ascension of the Lord (celebrated today in some places), Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel have a particular resonance. He says to the disciples and to us, “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me” (John 16:16). On one level, Jesus speaks of his death and resurrection, since these words are from the Last Supper, but for us at this moment, Jesus’ word speaks to us of his Ascension and his final coming in glory.
As we are continually invited to ponder in these last weeks of the Easter season, we no longer “see” Jesus in the same way as the disciples who lived and walked with him in his public ministry and in his resurrection appearances. Instead, through the power of the Spirit, we “see” Jesus in mystery, mediated to us through the poor and the outcast, through the communion of the Church, and through the sacraments.
But after this “little while,” in which we see Jesus only through the Spirit, we await the day when not only we but all creation will see Jesus plainly, in the final resurrection of the dead. Today, let us ponder our place in this “little while,” in which we see and yet do not see Jesus, asking the Spirit for vision and the grace of hope and perseverance.