Gospel (Jn 16, 23-28) - At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: «Truly, truly, I say to you: if you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. So far you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be full. I have told you these things in a veiled way, but the hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in a veiled way and will speak to you openly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name and I do not tell you that I will pray to the Father for you: in fact the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and came into the world; now I leave the world again and go to the Father."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

«Up until now», Jesus says to the disciples, «you have not asked for anything in my name», that is, they have not united in the communion of his Spirit. Their faith was still immature, they thought of Jesus according to the categories of the world. To understand Jesus, and therefore be united with him, it is necessary to welcome his Spirit into our hearts. The disciples will receive him on the day of Pentecost and he will accompany them all their days. We too receive the Spirit in the sacramental signs and every time the Word is announced to us. Like the disciples of that time, our hearts' eyes are opened, and we understand the great mystery of love that envelops us. Communion with Jesus is not the fruit of theoretical knowledge; it is above all a communion of love and trusting abandonment to him. The apostle Paul, overwhelmed by this love, said: "For me, to live is Christ" (Phil 1:21). Communion with Jesus makes us understand the words that follow: «On that day you will ask in my name and I do not tell you that I will pray to the Father for you: in fact the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came out from God." Jesus tells the disciples, and us, that He came to earth to be one with the disciples, to thus bring them into the bosom of the Father. He is about to pass from this world to the Father. However, he returns to the Father no longer alone, as he had come down, but with the disciples of yesterday, today and tomorrow, whom he purchased with his blood. We thank the Lord for his love that envelops us and saves us.