Deacon Brigid Waszczak

“I [Jesus] still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.’ ” —John 16:12-15, The Message

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Jesus comforted his disciples before ascending to the Father. “You can’t handle them [deep truths] now,” he cautioned.

I remember when my children were little and reached an age when believing in Santa was suspect. I fretted over how they’d take the news, whether they could handle the disappointment.

Jesus knew his disciples weren’t ready at that moment to handle more than what he imparted to them. As I was present to comfort and explain the myth of Santa for my kids, Jesus promised to send a surrogate, the Spirit of truth, to take the disciples by the hand, as one does with children, and guide them toward further understanding. This Friend would make sense of Jesus’ Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, and life’s work, just as I made sense out of Santa’s role in the children’s Christmases.

Jesus offers a precious gift—a piece of himself in different form. What the Spirit was to deliver to the disciples, he promised, would come directly from him, as if Jesus himself were still speaking to them.

It’s difficult to know when children are ready to surrender belief in Santa. Every child arrives at that uncertainty in his/her own time. It marks a step in their maturity. It was’t difficult for Jesus to know his disciples weren’t ready for deeper truths. He saw their sorrow, felt their anxiety, and sensed their growing fear of abandonment. Their faith hadn’t yet sufficiently matured, but they knew enough to be suspicious, to realize there was more they needed to know.

Reassurance from a familiar face makes disappointment and loss easier to accept. Relinquishing belief in Santa goes much better when a parent is present to explain rather than the child learning the brutal truth on the school playground. Jesus’ gentle reassurance may not have eliminated the disciples’ trepidation, but it certainly went a long way toward easing them into accepting his departure—a step in their maturity.

When we are fraught with fear, Jesus, perhaps in Spirit form, is like a tender-hearted parent ready and present to reassure us, too.

May it be so.

—Dcn Brigid