Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone.
But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
Today's gospel follows on yesterday's reading from Matthew, the last words of Christ before the ascension. How carefully Jesus must have chosen those words, "I am with you always until the end of the world."
I am a great fan of Sci-Fi, and Star Wars, but the biggest error in the Jedi vocabulary is "Trust your feelings." Our feelings are often the result of merely physical stressors and biochemical activity in the brain. They are not to be trusted unreflectively. And know that here I am excluding real love, which for Christians is much more than a feeling. (see The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis)
We may many times in life feel alone. This feeling, however, is never real. From the moment of our baptism, the promise of Jesus is fulfilled. Even when we try to walk away, he remains with us. It is simply not possible for a person who has been baptized to ever be alone.
