So long, Jesus!

Staying close to Christ over the summer

 John 16:16-20

Jesus said to his disciples:  “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks? We do not know what he means.”  Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”

            Jesus says something very strange in the gospel today.  He says, “In a little while you will no longer see me, and in a little while you will see me again.”  What did he mean?  Did he mean he was going on summer vacation to Hawaii and in August he will be back for the start of school?  No, that’s not what he meant, but sometimes, we say that to Jesus at the end of school each year, don’t we?  We think summer vacation means not only no more school, but also not more church!  We say not only “So long!” to Mrs. B and Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Smith, but we also say “So long!” to Jesus.  We say, “In a little while you will no longer see me, but in a little while you will see me again.”  See you all at the end of summer!  So long, Jesus!  I’m outta here!

             Is that the right thing to do over the summer – stop going to Mass?  Of course not.  A few weeks ago we had the funeral of Mr. Joseph Kaelin.  How many of you know who that is?  His children and now grandchildren attend Immaculate Conception School.  Do you know how he planned his summer vacations?  The first thing he looked for was not a sunny beach, it was not a scenic, high mountain, it was not a river teeming with fish.  He first looked for a Catholic church.  And if there wasn’t a church close by to that sunny beach or towering mountain or fishy river, he didn’t vacation there.  He always made it to Mass, even during the summer.  Joseph Kaelin never said to Jesus, “In a little while you will no longer see me, but in a little while you will see me again.  So long, Jesus!”  Joseph Kaelin saw Jesus every Sunday.

            Boys and girls, what are your summer plans?  Maybe you’ll go to Disney World, or the Grand Canyon.  Maybe you’ll stay home and read a book and enjoy a trip much farther away than any plane or train can take you!  Wherever you go, no matter how far, stay close to Jesus: get to Mass every Sunday this summer.  There is no vacation from your vocation to be a Christian, not even during the summer.  Never utter the words, “So long, Jesus!”

            Praised be Jesus Christ!