Gospel: The Holy Spirit, Advocate and Spirit of Truth
Today marks the Sixth Sunday of Easter and the Gospel is lifted from St John. Jesus said to His disciples: "If you love me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows Him. But you know Him, because He remains with you, and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves Me. And whoever loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him."
In the Gospel reading, Jesus introduces us to the Holy Spirit, and what will be His role in the ministry of the early disciples as Jesus is about to ascend into heaven. Jesus emphasizes about loving God, and we cannot simply profess our love to Him, and His intercession to the Father, without following His commandments. For a while, Jesus will no longer be seen by the world, but He did not leave us orphans because the Holy Spirit is with us. And whatever preaching the disciples have said did not come from the world, or has been told by a lie, because the Spirit of truth is with them.
Just as the Spirit lives in us through the early disciples, so is Jesus living in us. The risen Jesus did not ascend to the glory of heaven just to leave us alone. But instead, He left us with an Advocate, a paraclete to help us remember what has been commanded by God.
Today, Jesus is very much alive within us. He is present in the Most Holy Sacrament, the Eucharist, whom we receive in communion. Jesus is ever present in our works of charity. We are forgiven through confession, and we are healed and saved by our faith in Him, by the administration of the sacraments.
The reading also told us that those who have worldly thoughts will never recognize the Holy Spirit, because they are separate from God and the Spirit is not with them. As we celebrate the season of Easter, let us remind ourselves that whatever we are going through, God is with us. It is through these circumstances that God's goodness is revealed to us, and it is very possible to experience it by believing in Jesus, and by listening to His voice, and doing His commandments.
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Picture from Pexels.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves Me. And whoever loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him."
In the Gospel reading, Jesus introduces us to the Holy Spirit, and what will be His role in the ministry of the early disciples as Jesus is about to ascend into heaven. Jesus emphasizes about loving God, and we cannot simply profess our love to Him, and His intercession to the Father, without following His commandments. For a while, Jesus will no longer be seen by the world, but He did not leave us orphans because the Holy Spirit is with us. And whatever preaching the disciples have said did not come from the world, or has been told by a lie, because the Spirit of truth is with them.
Just as the Spirit lives in us through the early disciples, so is Jesus living in us. The risen Jesus did not ascend to the glory of heaven just to leave us alone. But instead, He left us with an Advocate, a paraclete to help us remember what has been commanded by God.
Today, Jesus is very much alive within us. He is present in the Most Holy Sacrament, the Eucharist, whom we receive in communion. Jesus is ever present in our works of charity. We are forgiven through confession, and we are healed and saved by our faith in Him, by the administration of the sacraments.
The reading also told us that those who have worldly thoughts will never recognize the Holy Spirit, because they are separate from God and the Spirit is not with them. As we celebrate the season of Easter, let us remind ourselves that whatever we are going through, God is with us. It is through these circumstances that God's goodness is revealed to us, and it is very possible to experience it by believing in Jesus, and by listening to His voice, and doing His commandments.
x----x
Picture from Pexels.
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