Sixth Sunday of Easter May 22, 2022
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29
In the first reading we heard and it is true in the whole of Acts of the Apostles, the Apostles did not make any decisions without consulting the Holy Spirit. Also, they could not carry out any severe mission without the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit and we have decided,” they said. The second reading begins thus: “In the Spirit, the angel took me to the top of an enormous mountain.” Of course, there is no way John could have seen these things without the help of the Holy Spirit.
As Christ was about to ascend to his father in today’s gospel, he promised to send the Advocate to his disciple. The Holy Spirit is the power of Jesus and, yet, a person in the Trinity. However, this does not mean that Christ’s era has come to an end because he is Lord at all times. Instead, it implies that he is not leaving us orphans.
In making known to us the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is twofold. The first goal is to build up the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Visible in nature with its seat in Rome, its invisible reflection is the holy city with its seat in Jerusalem where the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church had its beginning. The unity of the two forms the mystical Body of Christ, the Church also being known as the Bride of Christ. The second goal is to sanctify us in Christ so we may be purified and transformed in the likeness of Jesus.
Jesus promised us the Paraclete, the third person of the Godhead, to help give God’s peace to us. The word Paraclete is also translated as Advocate and is explained as a comforter. But the Paraclete does more than to comfort. He is the mediator, defense attorney, the one who stands by us in time of need. When in difficulty he is always there with us to support guide and help. What the lawyer does for pay, the Paraclete does for love. As the Jesuit poet Hopkins said, the Paraclete is the one who cheers, who encourages, who persuades, who exhorts, who stirs up, who urges forward, and who calls on. A Paraclete is zealous that we should do the good and leads us with assurance and strength, encouraging us and guiding every step we take. Paraclete works at the human and divine level. It was said that Nathaniel Hawthorne went home one evening to tell his wife that he had lost his job at the custom-house. She surprised him with joy and told him now is the time he can write his book. She told him that he was talented and all her life she had wished that he would do it. But he asked her what they would survive in the meantime. She opened the drawer and showed him the weekly savings she had made from the household expense money and that would take them through the year. The result was the book scarlet Letters. This is what the advocate would do in our life.
In Africa young girls who consecrate themselves to God as nuns dress up as brides for a wedding and sing love songs to Jesus. A few years after such a religious ceremony, a young nun who had been having a rough time in her mission assignment comes back to the convent and asks the Mother Superior: “Mother, is it really true that we are spouses of Christ.” “Yes, it is true, my daughter,” replied the Mother Superior, “Why do you ask?” “Well,” stammered the young nun, “Since I was professed five years ago, I haven’t actually felt anything!”
The presence of the Holy spirit is nothing but a helper who keeps us in contact with the person of Jesus and his teaching. The Nun might have not felt the physical presence of the Lord in her life, but the Spirit of the Lord was there in her life who kept her in the right track with Jesus.
Happy Sunday
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