Posted by The WORD in other words (2023) by Sr. Michaela Leifgen, SSpS – Convent of the Holy Spirit, Quezon City
Friday 4th Week of Easter
A troubled heart is a restless thing. It radiates stress. The body can’t keep still, lest so the mind. We all have our “troubled-heart” moments: waiting for a medical result, anticipating a difficult conversation, learning that someone dear is going to die.
Jesus’ friends had their troubled-heart moment when he prepared them for his death. It’s not the first time for him to say this, but bad news takes time to sink in. They are game-changers we would rather wish to ignore. For the disciples, Jesus’ announcement must have felt like this is the end. For Jesus, however, things were far from over. Instead, they were developing.
Our human and spiritual development is a journey through stages. Transitions from one stage to another usually are triggered, yes, even made possible by a crisis. Such troubled-heart moments are sure to indicate that the time for change has come.
However, we usually do not turn into a completely different person as we move on. We remain ourselves in the process. What we have internalized as good, right, and true at earlier stages in life and faith stays with us, turns into our virtue, and helps us deal with greater challenges in the future. As Developmental Psychologist Erik Erikson underlined, “there is in every stage a new miracle of vigorous unfolding, which constitutes a new hope and a new responsibility.”
When Jesus told his friends that they know the way because they know him, he assured them that they have all it takes to move on to the next level. Through their time with Jesus, their relationship has grown and deepened. It has, as it were, become a part of who they are. Jesus, the way, is in them. Now, it’s time for the next level. They are ready for “a new miracle of vigorous unfolding… new hope and a new responsibility” (cf. Erikson).
What is your unfolding at this stage of your spiritual journey?
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