336th Meditation
“I came from the Father and have come into the world and now I am leaving the world to go to the Father” (Jn 16:28).
This is the all-embracing reality of our Lord Jesus. The Lord proceeds from the Father, fulfils His mission in the world and returns to the Father. Everything is oriented to the Father; all the words Jesus speaks, all His works, everything is a living testimony of the Father’s love for the Son and for us, as well as of the Son’s love for the Father and for us human beings.
And in this love we find our home.
In holy baptism have we not been born again through water and the Spirit (cf. Jn 3:5)? Have we not become new men (cf. Eph 4:24)? Have we not been sent, like Jesus, to do the works of the Father? Are we not also called to do everything with our eyes fixed on the Father and for His greater glory? Have we not become true brothers and sisters of our Saviour, His messengers and friends?
Thus, as people reborn in our Lord, we too can, in a certain sense, say: “We came from the Father and have come into this world to fulfil our mission; and we shall leave the world to return to the Father”.
In this way, the mission of God’s only begotten Son becomes incarnate in our lives and, through our obedience, produces fruits for the Kingdom of God. It is these fruits that we can take with us into eternity. If, together with the Apostle St. Paul, we can at the end of our life affirm: “I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish” (2 Tim 4:7), then we will return with great confidence to the house of the Heavenly Father and will be forever with Him in eternal life.