6th Sunday of Easter
Acts 8:5-8,14-17; Ps 66; 1 Peter 3:15-18; Jn 14:15-21
As the readings become more pneumatological (pertaining to the Holy Spirit) as we get closer to Pentecost, we hear of the very consoling news of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete (translated as Advocate in the missal) whose constant presence will be our source of encouragement and strength as we seek to do the will of God. We hear this in what is often called the ‘Last Supper Discourse’ in the Gospel of John, where Jesus gave the last instructions to the disciples before he began that final road to Calvary. It wasn’t just a laundry list of ‘to-dos’ to the disciples but was also a means of affirming and encouraging the disciples (and us too) on their path towards the kingdom.
The coming of the Holy Spirit to be among us is assured to be constant but we have to recognise and accept this presence. We hear that the world will never receive the Holy Spirit because the world does not see or know him – it’s good to recognise that John often uses the word ‘know’ to mean ‘love’, meaning that the world has not yet learned to love the Lord, hence they will not receive the Holy Spirit. The disciples, however, know and accept the Lord’s presence and thus will be assured of how the Holy Spirit will continue to provide affirmation and encouragement. We are able to sense and accept the presence of the Holy Spirit because of our relationship with God, and this relationship is in turn strengthened by this constancy.
The Holy Spirit is also called the Advocate in the Gospel, and while it can be compelling to see the Paraclete as an advocate for us in before God in heaven, as someone who is sent to comfort us and help us in our time of need, this definition do not provide the full sense of the Paraclete, one of the Trinity whom Jesus specifically asked the Father to send for the benefit of the disciples and the faithful. Other English translations of the Bible use ‘Comforter,’ a word that works better in my opinion because it shows the more affective role that the Holy Spirit has in being with us on the journey of life. This presence is constant, as we hear how the Holy Spirit will be with us forever and this too can be a great source of consolation, especially when we struggle.
And the final bit to consider is how this constant presence is not for it’s own sake but has a practical element to it too. We are accompanied and encouraged in our lives of faith so that we can be witnesses to the Lord, witnessing to the love we receive through our concrete actions. This points to living one’s faith as an active process of accepting the love that is given and deepening this love by loving others (Jn 13:34). Just as the presence of the Holy Spirit is a sign of God’s love for the disciples and the faithful, so can our presence to others be a sign of God’s love to them. St Ignatius of Loyola echoes this as he states that ‘love ought to find its expression in deeds more than in words,’ reminding us that we need to live the life of love, always, practically and constantly.
musings of a brush 