The Advocate, the Holy Spirit!

Sixth Sunday of Easter

25 May 2025

 

First Reading: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8

Second Reading: Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23

Gospel: John 14:23-29

 

Reflection

By: Jose Paulo M. Gonzales

 

In the previous Sunday’s Gospel reflection, we have learned how love does no harm to a neighbor (Romans 13:10a), covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8), and is therefore the fulfillment of the law.  (Romans 13:10b) We have also learned that love [unlike power which is damaging], is enough to get everything done (a quote often attributed to Charlie Chaplin); and how love is enough to make wonders out of acts so little (a paraphrase of Mother Teresa’s well-shared saying).

This Sunday, we learn Who is our Help—our Advocate in our endeavor to love continuously amid our being imperfect—the Holy Spirit Godself. God has shared with us the Holy Spirit to inscribe in our hearts His Law; “For [we, in our piety to the Law,] are [the “letters” of recommendation of which Paul spoke], written not with ink nor on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts by the Spirit of God.” (2 Corinthians 3:3) It is the Holy Spirit Whose counsel instructs us in our abidance of God the Father’s Precepts and refinement of virtues and whole selves. This is why there is much to rejoice in Jesus’ Ascension which we celebrate this Thursday, May 29. Jesus has shared with us the Holy Spirit to navigate life in His instruction. Christ has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us so that when He comes back and takes us with Him, we may be where He is (John 14:3); “[a wonder] no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human mind has conceived, [which] God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) These are all part of God’s redemptive mission.

There is much to share in God's command for us to love as there is in His Good News: that we are saved by His grace through Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection—all feats of love themselves. As Christ said in the Gospel, [it is beneficial] that He tells us [of the Ascension] before it happens so that when it finally happens, we may believe (John 14:29), and so that our hearts, moved by the Spirit, are spurred towards betterment and eventual action.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us the Holy Spirit to aid us in all things in life. May the grace we receive from the Holy Spirit mobilize us for the good work You have set for us with and may all these be the expressions of love which You ultimately call us to do. These we ask in the most holy Name of Jesus Christ with the intercession of our loving and Blessed Mother, Mary, Amen.

Taking a Step Back

Sixth Sunday of Easter
29 May 2011


The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.


First reading Acts 8:5-8,14-17 3
Philip went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them. The people united in welcoming the message Philip preached, either because they had heard of the miracles he worked or because they saw them for themselves. There were, for example, unclean spirits that came shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured. As a result there was great rejoicing in that town.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, and they went down there, and prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit, for as yet he had not come down on any of them: they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 65:1-7,16,20

Second reading 1 Peter 3:15-18
Reverence the Lord Christ in your hearts, and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you all have. But give it with courtesy and respect and with a clear conscience, so that those who slander you when you are living a good life in Christ may be proved wrong in the accusations that they bring. And if it is the will of God that you should suffer, it is better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong.
Why, Christ himself, innocent though he was, had died once for sins, died for the guilty, to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life.

Gospel John 14:15-21
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If you love me you will keep my commandments.
I shall ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you for ever,
that Spirit of truth
whom the world can never receive
since it neither sees nor knows him;
but you know him,
because he is with you, he is in you.
I will not leave you orphans;
I will come back to you.
In a short time the world will no longer see me;
but you will see me,
because I live and you will live.
On that day you will understand that I am in my Father
and you in me and I in you.
Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them
will be one who loves me;
and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I shall love him and show myself to him.’

Reflection

As I write, my thoughts are torn between what has transpired this morning and the message of the readings and the Gospel. I was troubled by my health issues. I was never hypertensive but three days ago, I palpitated a lot, my head ached, and the back of my head ached worse. When I recounted the event this morning, my doctor dismissed the possibility of hypertension but advised me to have FBS, SGPT, SGOT, test for thyroid, ECG and had my sprained ankle x-rayed. I asked her what is wrong with me but she told me what a doctor always say… we wouldn’t know until the results of the tests. So here I am, waiting for the next thing to happen.

I remembered the reflection assigned to me when I opened the laptop after a few days of abstinence. As always, I read first the Gospel and the first few lines struck me. It was the answer to my anxiety. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit…” Then, I felt better and started typing. I guess that is just how we, human beings are. We express our faith but sometimes our frailties take us over.

It also struck me when I recalled the times when big problems occur… these were also the times when I did work for God! And the latest is these reflections I am writing. Is God testing my faith? Is God trying to measure how much problem I can bear? Does He really have to? Well, whatever are His reasons for allowing things to happen, He only has this to say… “TRUST ME, I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING AND YOU HAVE ALL THE HELP YOU WILL NEED.”

Yes, Lord, I lift up everything to You especially when I do not know what to do anymore. Perhaps, I have been so self-righteous to think that there is a way out to all the problems of the world. I might have set You aside to look at what I can do with my life. Now, Lord, I am taking a step back to give You the floor. I have always been in the center stage… in the lives of my children, my students and the people I am with. You have always been so good to me. You gave me wonderful kids (of course with the reality trimmings), a good husband (even if he is far from perfect) and work that others wished they had. I am holding on to Your promise Lord. It is very difficult Lord to let go because as an adult, I have made things happen. Help me to have a child-like faith. Hold my hand as I follow You as I travel the rest of the way to the place which You prepared for me. Amen.


Next week on God-speak
We are Disciples