The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, May 14, 2023

John 14, 15–21

Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate.”  The Greek parakletos, translated here as “advocate” was a counsel for the defense or legal assistant in the court system in Ancient Greece.  Originally, the defendant (as well as the plaintiff) spoke for himself, though sometimes using speeches prepared by hired experts in the law, but over time the defendant was allowed to employ counsel.  This counsel argued or pleaded on behalf of his client, attempting to sway the jury by his skill.  The Lord’s choice of the term and John’s translation into Greek of it put the Advocate, here the Holy Spirit, in opposition to Satan, whose name means “adversary” or “accuser”.  A verse from Revelation elucidates the Accuser’s role: “Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ: because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth, who accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of the testimony: and they loved not their lives unto death” (Revelation 12, 10-11).  These words are spoken by a voice from heaven following the last great persecution.  Satan “accuses” to God those who follow the Lamb in order that they be condemned.  He both tempts the just and exaggerates their failings.  His purpose is only to destroy.  The Holy Spirit, acting as Advocate, strengthens the just, protects them from temptation, and shows the truth regarding their lives.  The world cannot “accept” him, in both the sense of understanding who he is and in the sense of granting his legitimate role.  The world does not understand virtue and does not accept actual truth.  We might remember how Pilate, whom we can understand as a personification of the world, rejected that there could be such a thing as truth: “What is truth?”

“But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you.”  That is, “You are coming to know him” because he “will be in you”, not that he is in you at this moment, for the Holy Spirit will come to you only after the Resurrection.  The Apostles will know the Holy Spirit through the work they will be able to do when he has come to them, which work they could never have done without him.  These Apostles who will run from the Jews and hide at the time of the Lord’s arrest and even after his Death will boldly preach the Gospel in foreign lands, converting thousands.

“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”  The Lord comes to us even today through the Sacrament of the Eucharist.  He will never abandon us, but will be with us until the end of the world (cf. Matthew 28, 20).  “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live.”  The world, which has no faith, will not “see” the Resurrection, but those who have faith will: the Apostles after the Lord rises, and we who persevere in our faith will see him when he comes again to judge the living and the dead: “You shall see the heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man” (John 1, 51). “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.”  Here the Lord speaks of when the Apostles receive the Holy Spirit, at Pentecost. 

“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”  Love is expressed through service and sacrifice.  This is a painful reality to face in these hedonistic times, and marriage and fertility rates have declined precipitously in the West because people are unwilling to truly give themselves to another in a real union.  But with the grace that God gives us, we can live out our lives in service to him, and helping one another to observe his commandments.  This service does not result in merely being permitted to live another day, but in enjoying the presence of God in our lives, luxuriating in the experience of his love.