Acts 19:1-8 / John 16:29-33
Human beings are, by nature, social beings.
It is a human need to be with other human beings, and to live in groups or in families or in communities.
No one chooses to be alone or do not wish to come into contact with other human beings.
However, the reality of life is that there are persons who are abandoned, ostracized, neglected and treated as an outcast.
These persons may not be visible in society because no one cares or bothers about them.
Some of these persons can be found in nursing homes or they may be homeless.
They are certainly lonely, and they keep to themselves as they also do not want to bother others because of their status.
In the gospel, Jesus expressed a shade of this reality when He said to His disciples:
The time will come when you will be scattered, each going his own way and leaving me alone.
We leave people alone when we don’t want too much trouble upon ourselves.
Or it may be too risky to be in the company of a person, as it was in the case of the disciples when Jesus was arrested.
A person may not say that he is lonely or cry out for companionship.
But let us look into the eyes of a person suffering from loneliness and neglect.
We might see the eyes in Jesus when His disciples deserted and abandoned Him in His time of suffering.