Wednesday May 12

SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER

 

THE SPIRIT OF THE TRUTH GOD DWELLING AMONG US     

 

Introduction

The apostles should not be sad because Jesus leaves them. Their faith will become deeper and more spiritual when Jesus is no longer physically present. The Holy Spirit of truth will continue with them the mission of Jesus. This Spirit of truth will give them no new message, but he will guide the apostles and the Church to deepen their understanding of the life and the message of Jesus and to confront these constantly with the events and problems of the times. And thus, lead the Church forward.

St. Paul in Athens gives us an example of an apostle and missionary who tries to take the pagan religion of the Athenians as a starting point and to spiritualize it by stripping it from materialism and formalism.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord God, our Father,
you are not far away from any of us,
for in you. we live and move and exist
and you live in us
through your Holy Spirit.
Be indeed with us Lord,
send us your Holy Spirit of truth
and through him deepen our understanding
of the life and message of your Son,
that we may accept the full truth
and live with it consistently.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.

 

Reading 1: ACTS 17:15, 22—18:1

After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens,
they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy
to join him as soon as possible.

Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:
“You Athenians, I see that in every respect
you are very religious.
For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and all that is in it,
the Lord of heaven and earth,
does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands,
nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything.
Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.
He made from one the whole human race
to dwell on the entire surface of the earth,
and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,
so that people might seek God,
even perhaps grope for him and find him,
though indeed he is not far from any one of us.
For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’
as even some of your poets have said,
‘For we too are his offspring.’
Since therefore we are the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image
fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.
God has overlooked the times of ignorance,
but now he demands that all people everywhere repent
because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world
with justice’ through a man he has appointed,
and he has provided confirmation for all
by raising him from the dead.”

When they heard about resurrection of the dead,
some began to scoff, but others said,
“We should like to hear you on this some other time.”
And so Paul left them.
But some did join him, and became believers.
Among them were Dionysius,
a member of the Court of the Areopagus,
a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights.
Praise him, all you his angels;
praise him, all you his hosts.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the kings of the earth and all peoples,
the princes and all the judges of the earth,
Young men too, and maidens,
old men and boys.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted;
His majesty is above earth and heaven.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has lifted up the horn of his people;
Be this his praise from all his faithful ones,
from the children of Israel, the people close to him.
Alleluia.
R. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
or:
R. Alleluia.

 

Alleluia: JN 14:16

Alleluia, alleluia.
I will ask the Father
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you always.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: JN 16:12-15

Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.”

 

Intercessions

–   Lord Jesus, when we lack words to speak to the Father, let the Holy Spirit put the right prayers in our hearts and in our lips, we pray:

–   Lord Jesus, that men and women in our media may listen to the Holy Spirit to tell the full and whole truth, we pray:

–   Lord Jesus, that the Holy Spirit may inspire artists to make us admire the greatness of God’s creation, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

God, Lord of heaven and earth,
you give us life and breath
and have made us your sons and daughters
through our brother, Jesus Christ.
Give your Son to us now in this Eucharist.
Through him and his Spirit
make your home among us, your people,
and mold us into a community of faith and love,
that we may build up your kingdom
and praise you, forever and ever.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
you have reassured us again
in this Eucharistic celebration
that you are with us
through your Son, Jesus Christ.
May his Spirit of truth guide us
to face the truth in all its consequences –
the truth about your Son and his Gospel,
that we may live his life more deeply,
and the truth about ourselves,
that we are but pale images and poor witnesses
of him who is our Lord forever.

 

Blessing

May the Spirit of truth come and guide us to all truth, about ourselves, in our mutual relations, concerning what is going on in our world. May God give our world this Spirit and bless us, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. That is what Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel. It is important to read this sentence well. Because it does not say that today, here and now, we already have the whole truth. What he tells us is that the Holy Spirit will guide us towards the truth. The conclusion is easy: we are on the way. That full truth is situated as the horizon towards which we are heading but not as something we already possess.

It is important to keep this in mind. Because there are many Christians who believe they are already in possession of the truth. And they are so convinced that they are the custodians of the truth and that except they themselves, everyone else is wrong, and the rest of the world that lives in error. They regard their mission is to save the Church, as if the Spirit had enlightened them and given them exclusive ownership of that truth. And they are the ones in charge of administering and distributing it, and sometimes imposing it to others who live in the darkness of error.

The reality is a little different. There is an image that can help us to better understand our position. It is that of a pilgrimage where the one who goes ahead has a lantern that serves to vaguely illuminate the way. Those who walk behind, following this lantern, know where they want to go but they have to grope their way a little because darkness surrounds them. So are we men and women of this world, of all generations, walking and searching for the best, with many mistakes and errors along the way. But always with our eyes on the horizon, on the destination we want to reach: the Kingdom. Those who work for justice, scientists who seek remedies and solutions that make people’s lives easier, politicians who are honest and want to serve society, Christians and non-Christians, members of other religions, we are all seeking the best for this world, for humanity.

We have only one lantern and that is the Spirit that animates our steps and encourages us to collaborate with everyone to make this world a better place for the sons and daughters of God, where no one is excluded or condemned. Always open to dialogue, always full of hope because, like Jesus, like God, we believe in humanity and that God is working out his plan of salvation in our history.