May 19 2024, Pentecost Sunday
GOSPEL John 15:26-27; 16:12-15
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .
GOSPEL John 15:26-27; 16:12-15
Jesus said to his disciples:
"When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father,
he will testify to me.
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.
"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you."
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
SUMMARY
The first reading for Pentecost describes the actual events of the coming of the Spirit on the apostles and Mary. The Gospel is from Chapter 15 of John’s Gospel and contains the promises made by Jesus regarding the Spirit. It is essential for the Church to remember that the Holy Spirit is a person, not a thing. The Spirit comes from the Father and bears witness to Christ. Thus, the Spirit introduces us into the life of joy and communion of God. It is actually challenging to describe the Holy Spirit because he does not speak of himself: he speaks to us of the Father and the Son. Like a spouse who cannot stop speaking of the one he loves, the Spirit fills us with the joy of the Father and the Son. Like the child who cries out “Daddy!” to his Father, so the Spirit makes us trusting and self-abandoning children of God in Jesus. If we have a decision to make, the Holy Spirit does not tell us directly what or what not to do; instead, he speaks to us of the Father, and, in this way, we are assisted in discernment. We get bogged down in the details of things, but when we cease looking at things as if they were absolutes in themselves and instead see them in the light of the Father, then we can discern how to proceed. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirt will “lead us to all truth”. This is because he enables us to see things in the context of love, which, ultimately, gives sense and meaning to everything. We are asked to live our lives in relationship with the Father. When the Holy Spirit enters our lives, he does not change the things of our lives, but enables us to meet the Father in these things. He does not eliminate our problems, but teaches us to abandon ourselves in trust to the Father in these very problems. In addition, Jesus tells us, the Spirit will speak to us of the things that are to come. This is a very important element of this passage because humanity is very conditioned by the future. The anxieties we have about the future derive from a distorted perspective in which we try to rely on our own feeble strengths. We will remain anguished by the things that about to happen until we learn to leave them in the hands of God. The Father who created all things, the Son who is his perfect substance and who is pure gratitude, the Holy Spirit who is joy and love – this is the future that we have in front of us! This Pentecost, it is important for our hearts that we contemplate the nature of our God. We have a tendency to carry on as if we were alone and as if our response to things depended only on us. In the account of Pentecost from Acts, the disciples go out and speak to everyone in language they can understand - the language of love – and what they speak about is not themselves but the works of God. It is the merciful works of God that brings hope and consolation to humanity. The Holy Spirit gives to us this knowledge of the Father, illuminating our hearts with confidence in his providential love.
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