SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
Acts 8:5-8,14-17; Ps 65
1st Pt 3:15-18; John 14:15-21
IN THE CARE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The gospel continues the farewell discourse of Jesus at the last super. From these discourses, Jesus will not be physically present to the disciples. The reading deals with his Physical absence and the beginning of the life of the church. Jesus made it clear to them that he will soon leave them. The disciples must be worried. What would their lives become? What would they do? Will the Jewish community receive them back?
Jesus didn’t want them to be unsettled, he will continue to be with them in the person of the Holy Spirit. From time to time we also feel the anxieties of the disciples. We are perturbed by bad news and seeming danger to our lives. We also get antsy by lives’ burdens and we often feel that the Lord may have left us to our fate. But as he assures the disciples of his continual presence so he is also with us in every detail of our lives. Jesus does not leave us hopeless and helpless. He sends help always.
Jesus assures his disciples, “I will not leave you orphaned…” (Jn 14:18). He promises the Holy Spirit, “…I will ask the father and he will send you another advocate to be with you forever” (Jn 15:16). The Holy Spirit is one who is a paraclete. The Greek word translated has different nuances by which we understand the nature of the person of God the Holy Spirit. This word is translated as an advocate, helper, comforter and counsellor.
An advocate is one who speaks on your behalf and defends you, as a lawyer at the court of law. As an advocate, the Holy Spirit helps us to put our issues before God in a better way “for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the spirit himself intercedes for us in groanings too deep for words…”(Romans 8:26). In the spreading of the gospel too, the Holy Spirit bears witness to the great works of God through us in such a way that our evangelization bears fruits.
As our helper, the Holy Spirit empowers us by his gifts. These gifts enable us to live lives that bear spiritual fruits. The help of the Holy Spirit in the gifts he gives us heals our brokenness and weaknesses. In this way we too are empowered to help our brothers and sisters.
As our comforter, the Holy Spirit gives us hope that our efforts will surely bear some fruit. In the first reading, we read that Stephen went to Samaria to preach. This was after the killing of Stephen, but the disciples did not give us the mission the Lord had given them. This was because the Holy Spirit, the comforter, was with them giving hope to surge on. When things seem stale in our lives and ministry, our comforter gives us hope that things will get better. With the Holy Spirit, things get better in spite of present circumstances.
The Holy Spirit is also our Counsellor. He gives us guidance and direction. In everything we do we must rely on him for his promptings. We will become aware of the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit if we develop a relationship with him. We must pray to him and call upon him often. When this happens his inspirations and voice will be clear in our hearts. When we allow the Holy Spirit to counsel us, all our thoughts actions and desires become Holy.
The paraclete gives us the opportunity to understand truly the nature of God and then relate to him better. If you were one of the disciples and you hear Jesus say he would leave you the paraclete, what one thing in the paraclete (Holy Spirit) would you desire most and pray for; an advocate, helper, comforter or counsellor?
Personally, I want him all because he can be all for anyone who truly desires him.
May the Paraclete come to our help.
May he live in us always.
God bless you.
By Fr. Delight Arnold Carbonu
