The Coming of the Counselor

In today’s gospel we see what a great concern Jesus has for the disciples whom He nurtured for three years. They are fragile and He knows they will fall away once He leaves. So He promises to send them an ‘Advocate’ – the Holy Spirit – who will defend them. The Holy Spirit is able to help us in everything, no matter how weak and helpless we feel.

Jesus speaking of his departure seems painful to the disciples, so much so that they do not even want to speak about it. What seemed like abandonment to the disciples, Jesus says he goes away for our good, so that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit might come to us. The gift of the Holy Spirit means we don’t have to rely on our own resources to reach God. Our call is to become better attuned to the wavelength of the Holy Spirit, so that our lives are shaped by the Holy Spirit.

Further Jesus, tell us that the Spirit “will show the world how wrong it was, about sin”. That is, the Spirit will reveal the wrongness of the world, wherein we have become so secular that we don’t want to trust in the ways of Jesus. We His believers are called to a fullness of life that is only realized in our relationship with God.

There is so much commentary on television, on the internet and in print; there are many opinions, judgments and values that is so much contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Today let us allow ourselves some time to take to heart Jesus’ assurance that only the Holy Spirit brings a true understanding of sin, righteousness and judgment.

Notice how often Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit, thus the coming of the Spirit of Truth to us is clearly of great importance to Jesus. How important is it to you and me? Do we consciously rely on the grace of our Confirmation, and recognize the reality of the Holy Spirit in our life?

As we look at our life, let us pray for the grace of the Holy Spirit to shed light, to bring truth and to be the consolation that Jesus promises.