Gospel Reflection on John 20:19-23

May 24, 2026

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

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We trample the importance of freedom in our culture, insist on being free to make all kinds

of decisions about our lives. We want to choose our path, to decide what's right and wrong. But freedom is a great gift and at a deeper level, we live much of our life hiding behind mechanisms of defense. In fact, the state of being on the defensive and closed is symptomatic of being a human being. We erect whole series of defense mechanisms for our self-protection. These mechanisms designed to protect our fragile egos, which we've identified as who we are.

And other people are typically measured in terms of threats or assets to our egos. This is part of our narcissistic culture, which encourages us to focus on ourselves, on who or what makes me feel good about myself.

God is not a narcissistic consoler. We need to be cautious about a culture that bends towards narcissism, about focusing on ourselves.

God, faith, religion, whatever you may call it, is not something sought to make us feel better

or grant us peace. The faith is not an individual system of self-consolation.

We need to be careful about interpretations which see the spirit of something we obtain

to make us feel better, overcome personal problems, grant us peace.

In the 90s, we had an emphasis on new age practices of well-being and spirituality, and they still cast a long shadow.

Instead, God bends us outwards, away from ourselves. We see that in this great event called Pentecost, which happens to a small group of people paralyzed by fear.

Fear is the great enemy of the beauty of humanity and the flowering of love.

We're very much like the disciples, caged behind closed doors when Jesus erupts into their situation.

But the Spirit conquers fear; by the fact that the disciples are able to go out and communicate with others, everyone is able to understand what is said in their own language.

In other words, the Spirit gives the disciples the capacity to speak to the deepest hearts

of their listeners.

The Spirit brings peace to their state of self-protective worrying, introducing the very life of God. Jesus says: "as a Father sent me, so I send you with the love and mercy of the Father."

When life is understood as a mission, it gives us a completely different flavor to our existence. When the care of ourselves and those who are dear to us is a mandate from God,

it makes every single act of ours more noble.

But first, he communicates to us the forgiveness of the Father, accepts us as who we are, frees from all shadows of condemnation, shattering the cages of fear inside of which we hide ourselves.

Happiness does not come from the satisfaction of our appetites, but in our relationships. And that's what the Holy Spirit accomplishes. He places us on the path of mercy and acceptance of others.

The truth is, the Spirit does not make us more comfortable, but sends us. He doesn't turn us into super heroes, he doesn't sort out all our personal problems. Instead, he makes us witnesses to the love of God and forgiveness of sins.

There does exist a horizontal version of forgiveness when we pardon each other. But the cancellation of sin, the reconstruction of broken relationships, can only be achieved by God.

So today, in this great feast, allow yourself to be visited by God with His mercy, allow yourselves to be loved in your poverty, and to be sent to do good to others, a good that is always a echo of the good that we have first received.

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https://youtu.be/MxRAjxd5u10