By Father James, O.F.M.Cap.
2.—GIFT OF GIFTS
To those who accepted Him, our blessed’ Lord revealed many things. But there is one revelation that is unforgettable. He drew aside a veil which, for many to this very day, hides the true nature of God behind human conceptions of power and knowledge. Jesus affirmed, and showed in His Person that God is a God of love. “God,” cries out St. John, “is charity.” But the heart of charity is the impulse to* give and the God Who, in charity, gave to the world His Son is not yet content. In the Son, our Lord, beats the same pulse of charity and He will not rest until He has shared with those who accept Him all that He is and all that He has.
A first inkling of the Master’s intentions is found in a mysterious conversation with the Samaritan woman. On that day she had come to the Well, quite unaware of what awaited her, and the impressive Figure, resting there, took her by surprise. “Give me to drink,” He said to her. When she demurred, He added : “If thou didst know the gift of God, and who he is that saith to thee, give me to drink, thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” Jesus was Himself the Gift of God, as He insinuated and she finally understood, but there was a further thing which she did not perceive : there is a Gift of Gifts. On a later occasion this is made clear. “And on the last, and great day of the festivity, Jesus stood and cried, saying : “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.. Now this he said of the Spirit which they should receive who believed in him : for as yet the Spirit was not given.” That is how Saint John explains the invitation of Jesus.
The Disciple whom Jesus loved was peculiarly attentive to two ambitions of His Master : the one, which concerned his Lord’s continued presence in the Flesh ; the other, which had to do with his Lord’s presence in the Spirit. In support of this one might cite the care with which Saint John set down the not unrelated promises of the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Spirit And should any one desire to obtain a glimpse of the splendour of these promises, let him read and re-read those farewell chapters where, in verses that never grow old, Saint John conveys the Master’s message to humanity.
The scene is the Supper-Room. Our Lord is talking earnestly to His disciples. Their honest faces are puckered in perplexity, for He has just taxed their understanding with this enigma/' A little while and ye behold me no more : and again a little while, and ye shall behold me.” They are completely at sea. Already the Master has done His best to explain ; but they are unable to follow. “Let not your hearts be troubled'’ He had begun, thus striking the keynote to all that follows. “ You believe in God, believe also in me.” He would hold their loyalty at least, if not their comprehension. As the voices of Thomas, Philip, Judas (not the Iscariot), men usually in the background, are raised in tense successive enquiries, He sees that He shall have to tell them bluntly. Just when their love of Him is in full tide, He utters the appalling words : “It is expedient for you that I go.” Peter asks impulsively, “Whither ?” The Master answers: “Whither I go you cannot come.” The blow has fallen : there is to be a separation. Loving them as He did, our Lord could only say : “A little while . .”, for He would minimise His absence.
