HOMILY FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR A

HOMILY FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR A
GIFTED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

In the gospel passage, filled with concern for the disciples that he was going to leave behind, Jesus promised "I will not leave you orphan. I will give you another Advocate" (John 14:16-18). In the first reading Philip goes to Samaria, where the word of God had not been preached before, and he begins to proclaim the good news about Jesus in the power of this Spirit. The people responded, were baptized and confirmed, and they received the Holy Spirit. Luke tells us that the town was bursting with joy and that a fever of joy came over everyone. They were filled with the Spirit reflecting the promise Jesus made to them: "I will give you another Paraclet".
Paraclet is a Greek legal term meaning a defense attorney, and it can also mean a spokesman, advocate, mediator, intercessor, comforter, or consoler. It means someone who stands alongside to protect and sustain the one assisted. Jesus is saying "I will send you the Spirit, the advocate, the Paraclet, the one who will be with you always at your side. With this he assures the Apostles that they will not remain alone: the Holy Spirit will be with them and sustain them in their great mission of bearing the announcement of the Gospel into the whole world.
Today we are already indwelt with the Spirit. Does this passage have any relevance for us? As a reminder of the mission of the Paraclet in the life of believers, the church is telling us the kind of assistance we can have with the Spirit. When Jesus promised an Advocate to his disciples, who dreaded his imminent departure from them, he was telling them that he would be with them in this Spirit just like he had been with them in Palestine. As we struggle to maintain our identity as believers in Jesus Christ, we must know that Jesus is ever at our side through the Spirit living within us.
The most important consequence of this presence of Jesus in our lives is the profound conviction, given to us by the Spirit, that we are embraced by the heavenly Father's love, just as Jesus was embraced by that love. This is what St. Paul tells us when he writes, "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!" (Gal 4:6). If we listen to this Spirit, we will become ever more confident, in spite of the adversities that we may find in our lives. That is to say, gifted with the Spirit, we can make a difference in the world.
In the second reading, Peter gives us another direction in the second reading today when he tells us we can make a difference if we are able to give the reason for the hope that is within us. In a world where so many people are perhaps despairing because of all the violence and suffering and the tragedies that go on all the time, those who follow Jesus are filled with hope and must be able to show the reason for that hope. We do this through the witness of good life and confidence in God's providence.
When the gospel says that the Advocate will "teach us everything," it gives us the wonderful assurance that we need not guess at what Jesus would do if he were in our situation. We know that the world we live in is far different from the world that Jesus knew. This can make it difficult to apply the wisdom of Jesus to the twenty-first century. At the same time, if we can ask the question," What Would Jesus do if he were here?" This will go a long way to show an awareness of the believer in the presence of an advocate. When we listen with earnest prayer and patience to the Spirit of God within us, the answer will always tell us, in one way or the other, what is the will of God for us in a given situation.
In all these ways, we have a powerful divine Spirit, who will stand with us to advise and protect us. Thus, we are never alone, even at the darkest moments.

In a special way we encounter Christ in the celebration of the Eucharist. There is fulfilled in a special manner Jesus' words of comfort: "You will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." (Joh 14, 20). In this celebration we anticipate the future, actually unimaginable meeting that "God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Cor 2:9). In this life we will never wholly reach the peace and happiness that we really desire, but when we receive Jesus lovingly in the Eucharist, we already participate in a mysterious fashion in this infinite happiness. We can have an inkling what it means to be embraced by an infinite love that never abandons us and that also unites us most closely to one another. Let us pray for the grace to ever more realize and appreciate this gift of the Eucharist, this veiled encounter with Jesus Christ, and thereby to grow in friendship with him.




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