Welcome the Advocate

The spread of the Word by the Apostles through the action of the Holy Spirit is a theme in the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today . In our time we may be presented more with the opportunities suggested by Peter than the more dramatic communal laying on of hands which filled the Samaritans with the Holy Spirit, described by Friar Jude Winkler as the Love between the Father and the Son, in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles. Peter advises us always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,Maureen McCann Waldron of Creighton University comments that God’s plan for each one of us as human beings is to realize how loved we are and to be so filled with gratitude that we want to follow Jesus and his way of doing things.  It’s counter-cultural and not always understood by those around us, but Jesus asks us to follow him and die to ourselves. The Gospel from John is both practical and mystical in the direction it gives to open ourselves to the experience of the Divine today. We demonstrate our yes to accepting the Advocate promised by Jesus in our desire to live in accord with the Commandments of Love for God and neighbour. In the struggle to be Christ for others, Friar Jude and  Maureen McCann Waldron concur that the Power that consoles our being when the path is tough is the Spirit which Pope Francis says, “The Spirit blows where it wills, but one of the most common temptations of those who have faith is to bar its path and drive it in one direction or another.” Let us contemplate our openness to accept and not bar the Advocate .