Monday May 23, 2022

Monday of 6th Week in Easter

 

You Bear Witness!    

We should not regret that the octave of Pentecost has been abolished. Two weeks from now to Pentecost, our attention is focused on the Spirit. Either the readings or the prayers, or both speak of the Holy Spirit.

            Jesus was the faithful witness of the Father who showed us, in terms understandable for people, what God is like, but it cost him his life. Through his Spirit, he will make his apostles witnesses too. They have seen, so they MUST speak. They believe, so they MUST speak and act. The Spirit will make them afraid of nothing and nobody. Every Christian is called to be such a witness.

 

First Reading: Acts 16:11-15 

Putting out from the harbor at Troas, we made a straight run for Samothrace. The next day we tied up at New City and walked from there to Philippi, the main city in that part of Macedonia and, even more importantly, a Roman colony. We lingered there several days.

On the Sabbath, we left the city and went down along the river where we had heard there was to be a prayer meeting. We took our place with the women who had gathered there and talked with them. One woman, Lydia, was from Thyatira and a dealer in expensive textiles, known to be a God-fearing woman. As she listened with intensity to what was being said, the Master gave her a trusting heart—and she believed!

After she was baptized, along with everyone in her household, she said in a surge of hospitality, “If you’re confident that I’m in this with you and believe in the Master truly, come home with me and be my guests.” We hesitated, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

 

Gospel: John 15:26-16:7

“When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes—the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father—he will confirm everything about me. You, too, from your side must give your confirming evidence, since you are in this with me from the start.”

 “I’ve told you these things to prepare you for rough times ahead. They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he’s doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father. I’ve told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you’ll be well-warned and ready for them.

 “I didn’t tell you this earlier because I was with you every day. But now I am on my way to the One who sent me. Not one of you has asked, ‘Where are you going?’ Instead, the longer I’ve talked, the sadder you’ve become. So let me say it again, this truth: It’s better for you that I leave. If I don’t leave, the Friend won’t come. But if I go, I’ll send him to you.

 

Prayer

Lord, our God,
if we really believe in you and in your Son,
we cannot be but witnesses.
Send us your Spirit of strength,
that we may give no flimsy excuses
for not standing up for you
and for the love and rights of our neighbor.
Make us only afraid
of betraying you and people
and of being afraid to bear witness.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

23 May 2022
Jn 15:26-16:4
The Holy Spirit strengthens you

As we move from the Easter season toward the Pentecost, our readings begin to speak of the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew that his disciples and each of us would face unjust hardships, the kind that would severely test our faith. Jesus knew that his disciples would not be able to withstand persecutions on their own. Today’s Gospel is Jesus’ answer to these overwhelming challenges and he promises his disciples and now each of us with the Helper, the Paraclete – the Holy Spirit.

The mission of the disciples would be to witness to the Jewish leadership and to the rest of the world, the truth of Jesus – precisely in the face of their opposition. But they are never left alone. The Paraclete empowers the disciples to face every trial they face.

Today’s passage also gives a hint to persecution of those who believe in Jesus, not from outside of the Church but from within. The hour is coming when people who kill you think they are offering worship to God. Jesus had revealed a God who loved the world and every creature; he had no favourites, because everyone, without exception, was his favourite. But people who are driven by their selfishness, want a God who favours them; they want their God to be against those whom they oppose. They prefer to believe in this God of their choice and they act with violence even as they quote the Word of God to defend that God of their choice.

This can be the most disheartening experience for the faithful in the Church – to have such scandalous behaviours from within the Church. The numerous scandals within the Church and divisions on account of liturgical traditions cut deep the body of Christ and the members of this body are no more driven by the command of love, but by hatred and desires for power.
This has led many to lose hope, abandon their faith and leave the Church.

John was faced with this problem in his community. Therefore, he writes to his readers and listeners – reminding them that the Lord had indeed foreseen this and, therefore promised us his Paraclete. This is the role of the Holy Spirit – to strengthen us when our faith is shaken and profess like St. Paul: I believe and “proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.’

Lord, our God, if we really believe in you and in your Son, we cannot be but witnesses. Send us your Spirit of strength, that we may give no flimsy excuses for not standing up for you and for the love and the rights of our neighbour.

 

Video available on Youtube: The Holy Spirit strengthens you