The Farewell Discourse (2)

6^th Sunday of Easter (A); May 14, 2023

Acts 8:5-8,14-17.  Ps 66.  1 Pt 3:15-18.  Jn 14:15-21

Deacon Jim McFadden

            During the time  of the Eisenhower Administration, a world famous psychoanalyst Erich Fromm wrote a remarkable book, The Art of Loving, which was a daring and challenging prescription to learn how to love on a daily basis.  I flashed back to this remarkable tome, even pulled it out of my bookshelf to review it, when I reflected upon this Sunday’s Gospel (cf. Jn 14:15-21), which is a continuation of Jesus’ Farewell Discourse in which he leaves us his last teachings before entering his Passion and Death.  At the cusp of this sad and dark moment, Jesus promises his friends that after him, they will receive “another Paraclete”

(v. 16).  This Greek term derives from legal terminology for a defender who will take his place and argue for a cause especially for a vulnerable person who is undefended.  Jesus is going to physically leave us and we’re going to be on trial in the world whose “ways are not my ways, whose thoughts are not my thoughts”

(Is 55:8).  We will feel alone, misunderstood, and overwhelmed that we can’t plead our own case in the court of the dominant consciousness of society.

            Jesus anticipates that sad and lonely feeling by reassuring us that “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (Jn 14: 18).  Yes, Jesus will no longer be with us physically, but the Paraclete will take his place and give us the intelligence to listen and the courage to take into our heart his words and to act on them!  This is the Holy Spirit, who is the gift of God’s Lovethat descends into the heart of every Christian.  After Jesus has died and risen, his Love is given to those who believe in him and who have been initiated into his mystical Body, the Church through the Sacrament of Baptism.  The Spirit now guides us, enlightens us, strengthens us, so that everyday we can walk the Way of Jesus, even though we’re met with all sorts of adversity, difficulties, loss, and sorrow.  In and through the Holy Spirit we remain on Jesus’ path which is Love in action.   Living this way is only possible if we are docile to the movement of the Spirit who works in and through us so that we may do the Father’s will.  Such a gentle and powerful presence not only consoles us as we walk through a dark valley, but transforms our hearts, opening them up to the Truth who is Jesus and Love, which is God’s nature.

            Our bodies are now the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  Nonetheless, we are all sinners, which we remind ourselves at the beginning of Holy Mass as we say in unison the Confiteor.  We will continue to make dumb mistakes and do the wrong thing in thought, word, and deed.  We will fall, sometimes quite badly, but the Holy Spirit will pick us up, not allowing us to stay stuck in our sin, and enables us to get back on the right Way and fully live the meaning of Jesus’ words: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (v. 15).  The commandments are not some kind of obstacles to test our resolve or a mirror in which we see our reflection of our inadequacies, miseries, and inconsistencies. 

            No, they are not like that.  The Commandments come from the Mind of God, which keep us rightly ordered towards God, ourselves, and each other. The Commandments reflect the Word of God and the latter is the Word of Life, which transforms our heart; which renews our soul; which does not judge in order to condemn us, but heals us and has forgiveness and mercy as its aim.  The Word is a light to our steps as we follow the Way.

            All of this is the work of the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of Life.  He is the gift of God; he is God himself, the Loving shared between the Father and the Son. He helps us to be free people no longer under the control of sin and negative influence of Satan.  With the Loving energy of the Spirit within us, we are now empowered to want and know how to love because we have Jesus as our model for self-gifting generosity.  We are a people who understand that life is a Mission to proclaim the wonders that the Lord accomplishes in those who trust in him.

            Let us call upon the Blessed Virgin Mary, the model of discipleship and the Mother of the Church who knows how to listen to the Word of God, who knows how to welcome and cooperate with the gift of the Holy Spirit, who can help us live the Gospel with joy, knowing that we are sustained by the Holy Spirit, the divine life that energizes our hearts and illuminates our steps.  Amen.