Did you know it only takes two moments to make a lasting impression? For example, let’s say you take a trip to Cedar Point with some friends or family.
During your visit, every hour on the hour, I text you asking you to rate your experience at that moment on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being a terrible experience and 10 being an amazing experience. At 11 a.m., you just got off the Millennium Force roller coaster and you rate the moment a 10. At 1 p.m., you just paid $9 for a hot dog and you rate the moment a 3. At 5 p.m., you are waiting in a long line for a ride, so you rate the moment a 3. At 9 p.m., you just ended the day by riding the Maverick roller coaster and you rate the moment an 8.
Let’s say I text you about a month later and ask you to rate your overall experience at Cedar Point. Instead of just averaging the rating of all the moments throughout the day and giving your Cedar Point experience a rating of a 6, something peculiar happens. You text back saying your overall experience at Cedar Point was a 9.
Psychologists have discovered the explanation for this discrepancy. They call it the peak-end rule. When we look back on an experience, the peak-end rule says we disproportionally remember and emphasize the peak (this could be an extremely high point or an extremely low point) and the end of the experience. This means for our Cedar Point experience, we remember the peak moment of riding the Millennium Force and the end moment of riding the Maverick and we rate the overall experience a 9.
Now, what does all this have to do with the reading from the Gospel of John we just heard? I think we see the peak-end rule at play in this reading. The Gospel writer John had 33 years’ worth of Jesus’ life as content to write about. Yet, John dedicated five whole chapters or 25% of his Gospel to one evening of Jesus’ life. In today’s Gospel reading, we heard about this evening of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday.
Think of the peak moment. Here, John is the youngest guy at the table, about ready to break bread with the man John thinks the world of and worships, and what happens? Jesus bends down and serves John by washing John’s feet. I think John would have rated that moment a 10. So, that may be a peak moment for John.
What about the end? We tend to value someone’s last words or the words they speak at the end of their life. The last words of dying people are usually a pretty good indication of what’s in their hearts (final requests, final warnings, philosophies of life, etc.). In today’s Gospel, Jesus is speaking just a matter of hours before he is to die, what is essentially his last will and testament to his disciples. Jesus speaks of the things that are most important to him, the things he values that he wants to leave behind to those whom he cares about the most.
These are words of love. This is the capstone to the legacy of love Jesus has been building during his time with his disciples. He says, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”Jesus knows human psychology and human nature well. Jesus knew this was his last evening before dying. Jesus wanted John to remember and emphasize the legacy of love he left behind when he died. Jesus was a master of the moment, and he still is today.
We’ve seen how the peak-end rule impacted the Gospel of Jesus Christ According to John. Now, how will this peak-end rule impact the Gospel of You According to Jesus Christ? When it comes to the good news of each of our lives here on earth, what will Jesus focus on and emphasize? What will the Gospel of You According to Jesus Christ be? When Jesus looks at each of our own lives here on earth, what moments of our lives will have special meaning for him and what will be his particular manner of telling the story about our lives, and what significance will he find in our lives of how we’ve shared in his cross and resurrection? Jesus said the way we love others will be how it’s clear who his disciples really are. But, when we love others, we aren’t just loving others, of course, we are actually loving Jesus.
In Matthew 25, verse 35, Jesus begins telling us that when we feed others who are hungry, give drink to those who are thirsty, welcome the stranger, give clothing to those who are naked, care for the ill, and visit the imprisoned, we are doing so for him. I believe these moments in our lives where we have shown love for others and Jesus will be the peak moments of our lives for Jesus. In these moments, Jesus, who thinks the world of us, gets to experience us bowing down to serve him in the same way he has served us.
But what about those extremely low moments of our lives? How will Jesus remember those low moments of our lives? The good news is that we don’t need to spend a bunch of time worrying about the low moments of our lives being remembered or focused on in the end by Jesus. Pope Francis said God forgets our sins that we have been absolved of during Confession. These low moments of our lives that we tend to allow to occupy a lot of real estate in our minds, that we tend to ruminate on, and that we are tempted to let define us, once we’ve confessed them and we’ve been absolved of them, God has already forgotten them. Jesus wants our Gospel to be like his Gospel, free from any sight of sin. Jesus wants our Gospel to be like his Gospel, with us being moment makers who are building a legacy of love.
One way we can determine the type of legacy we are building is to take a look at what we are focused on in each moment and to ask ourselves if we are being more like Jesus or more like Judas. In any given moment, are we focused on being givers or being takers? We saw both of these roles played out on Holy Thursday evening in John’s Gospel. Jesus gave a foot washing. Judas took the foot washing. Jesus gave the food at the Last Supper. Judas took the food and took off to betray Jesus. Jesus prepared to give his life out of love for us. Judas took the money and betrayed Jesus. When Judas took off to go betray Jesus, Jesus says something odd. Did you catch that in today’s Gospel reading?
We heard the following verse in today’s Gospel reading: “When Judas had left them, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified.” Most theologians interpret this to mean that the decisive act has been done. Now, that Judas has left the last supper, everything has been set into motion for Jesus’ betrayal, mock trial, beating, crucifixion, resurrection, and his glorious coronation in heaven.
But I think there is something more to this. Now, that Judas has left, the only disciples who were left surrounding Jesus were disciples who ultimately were givers; people who ultimately were prepared to give their lives out of love for Jesus. These are all people who would glorify Jesus with their lives.
When we disciples today, like those disciples at the Last Supper, receive the food of Jesus’ body in the Eucharist, we have the master of the moment, the one who John tells us is love, residing within us. So, all we have to do is share with others the love which we have received. To love means to give, not only something material but also something of oneself: one’s own time, one’s friendship, one’s abilities. Jesus is interested in doing something still here today and he is inviting us to be a part of it. Jesus knows that we too are moment makers. In the ordinary moments of our day, we have the opportunity to help make heaven and earth come a little bit closer for us and others.
When someone walks away from an interaction with us, do they have something they didn’t have before their encounter with us? Jesus wants others to walk away from us with a smile, a little more joy, a greater sense of peace, and more strength to endure their suffering than they had before. Jesus wants us to give to others a lifelong gift, a love that transcends this world.
This is how we build a legacy of love: one moment at a time. And about those two moments from your life that will make a lasting legacy, who knows, maybe you could make one of these moments today.
5th Sunday of Easter Cycle C – May 15, 2022
Mass Readings:
Reading 1: Acts 14:21-27
Psalm: Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13
Reading 2: Rev 21:1-5a
Gospel: Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35