Tuesday in the Sixth Week of Easter, May 16, 2023

John 16, 5-11

Jesus said to his disciples: “Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”

Today, May 16, is the 24th anniversary of my first Mass and yesterday was the 24th anniversary of my ordination to the Priesthood.  I thank God for this most-undeserved vocation and pray — and I ask you for prayers — that I may serve him with all the loyalty and devotion of which I am capable.  Every day I think of the moments that led me to the Priesthood, marveling at Divine Providence.  

“Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ”  St. Thomas had said to the Lord earlier in the discourse, “We do not know where we are going.  How can we know the way?”  But he did not ask where the Lord was going, only where the road lay that would take him to the Lord.  Many times during the course of his preaching the people or the disciples do not understand what the Lord has said but only ask themselves what he meant.  This is true, for instance, when the Lord revealed himself as the Bread of life.  Here, the Lord shows his astonishment st this fact.  They want to know but do not go to the trouble to ask the one who can explain it to them.  It is almost as if they preferred to make up their own answer.  Unfortunately, this is a common human trait. 

“But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.”  That is, the Apostles grieve at the announcement that he is departing even though they do not ask where he is going — it may not be far or for very long.

“But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”  It is better for them because it is through the grace they receive from the Holy Spirit that they will go out to the world to preach the Gospel and so enter eternal life.  If the Lord does not depart from them, they will not go far from him and will always seek to return to him.

“And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation.”  The Greek word translated here as “convict” actually means “to expose” or “to rebuke”.  In this case, the Holy Spirit exposes and, by doing so, rebukes the world.  “Sin, because they do not believe in me.”  The Holy Spirit will act in the Apostles so that they preach the truth about God and about humanity and it’s need for a Savior.  This will provoke persecution by those who do not want to hear that they have sinned and wish to continue sinning unimpeded.  “Righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me.”  The Holy Spirit will enable the Apostles to know where the Lord Jesus is going, why he is going, and that he will come again.  In this way, he will expose the hostility or indifference of the world to the salvation offered to it.“Condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”  The coming of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent spread of the Gospel even in the face of violent persecution will expose the defeat and condemnation of the devil.

The Church offers these readings in which the Son of God teaches about the Spirit in order to prepare us for the great Feast of Pentecost and also to remind us of the tremendous gift of the Holy Spirit whom we have received in Baptism and Confirmation — which makes us Christians and enables us also to spread the Gospel through prayer, good deeds, and opportune words.