Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him,

“Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us
and not to the world?”

Judas’ question may be the first question American Christians would ask of Jesus. We have a particular understanding of fair play and democracy and a certain uneasiness with our calling. So we ask, “Why me? Why do you reveal yourself to some and not others? To me and not to everyone?”

Jesus’ reply should be framed by Isaiah:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

Recently a woman explained the Holy Trinity to me. “It’s just like water.” She said, “It can be a liquid, a gas or a solid.” I guess that’s better than “The Trinity is like the three musketeers, one for all and all for one.”

But the doctrine is a very deep mystery that can neither be kept in secret nor revealed in public. Although it is fundamental to our understanding of Jesus, it is revealed only to the loving heart by way of faith.

Saint John’s Gospel discovers the Trinity where everyone can find it and no one will notice it. It dwells in the human heart.

Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

Jesus’ words fulfill the ancient promise of Moses beyond our wildest imagination:

For this command which I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you.

It is not up in the sky, that you should say, 'Who will go up in the sky to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'

Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea to get it for us and tell us of it, that we may carry it out?'

No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.

Finally, the Christian may still ask, “Why me?”

The only reply is “Because I love you!”

And if the questioner persists in asking, “…and not others?” she will learn, “It’s not about you.”