10 May 2026
Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year A)
Jn 14:15–21
The Gospel passage presented to us on this Sixth Sunday of Easter (Jn 14:15–21) is part of the long “farewell discourse” with which Jesus leaves His disciples before His Passion.
However, in reality, this is not a farewell. On the contrary, He speak powerfully of a presence: just as Jesus is about to depart from this world and the time of His absence begins, so too begins a time of more intimate communion.
This is the great paradox of the Gospel of John: when it seems that God is withdrawing, He is actually drawing near; when it seems that Jesus seems to disappear, He is actually going more to the depth; when it seems that everything is ending, everything is actually just beginning.
This passage from John suggests that the disciples are transitioning from a time in which they were “spectators” of Jesus’ life to another in which they are participants.
In fact, expressions referring to a mutual presence, a “dwelling within,” recur several times: “The Spirit remains with you and will be in you (Jn 14:17); “you will know that I am in my Fater and you in me and I in you” (Jn 14:20).
Hence, Jesus is saying that His life, meaning, His relationship with the Father, His way of loving, His freedom, and inner peace, becomes our possible way of living. It is not a matter of imitating Him from the outside, but of participating in His life from within, as something that belongs to us, that is also ours.
We do not look at Jesus from afar; we do not recount His story as a past event. We live within His story.
How can such a great gift be possible! Jesus begins to explain this by suggesting a few possible ways.
The first way the passage points to is that of a love that turns into obedience: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15).
It is not a order, but a path. It is not a duty imposed, rather the shape that love takes when it is true. Obedience, in the Gospel of John, is never a subjugation: it is the liberty of those who have discovered the way of Jesus is the way of life.
Jesus’ commandment is not a list of things to do, but a one thing: His own life given to us.
To love Jesus means to let oneself be drawn into his logic of self-giving, to allow the Spirit to shape our hearts according to His example. Love, when it is real, generates a way of life. It does not remain a feeling: it becomes a choice, a direction, a way of living.
To obey, then, does not mean to carry out orders, but to allow the love we received take shape within us. Therefore, obedience is the mature fruit of a love received, and it is the place where the life of Jesus within us is made manifest.
A second path passes through knowledge.
In this passage, the verb to see and know appear several times, however, they do not refer to theoretical knowledge or abstract truth. They point to a recognition and are always used in conjunction with other words—namely, those that belong to the vocabulary of love.
The Lord’s presence within us is recognized only through love, for it is love that opens our eyes. Love makes it possible to see what is present but is not obviously apparent.
All this, however, is possible only thanks to the gift of the Spirit, this “another Advocate” (Jn 14:16) whom the Father sends to the disciples: He “remains with you and will be in you” (Jn 14:17).
This promise of a permanent inner presence is the true consolation through which the Lord can leave the disciples’ hearts at peace.
One thing is asked of the disciples: to welcome. (“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him” - Jn 14:21). When we allow the Spirit to do His subtle work, then the Lord can reveal himself.
Not through dramatic signs or in some extraordinary manner, but in the quiet, ordinary reality of peace, light, and faithfulness.
This is the discreet miracle of the Spirit: transforming absence into communion, fear into trust, and lonliness into a dwelling place.
+Pierbattista
*Translated from the Original in Italian
