Monday of 6th week of Easter 2nd May 2016
“They will expel you from the synagogues, and indeed the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is doing a holy service to God. They will do these things because they have never known either the Father nor myself.”
Ac.16,11-15 Ps.149 Jn.15,25-16,4
“When the Paraclete comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning.”
Jesus is telling his disciples that when they begin to follow Him, the world will hate them. He is preparing his disciples by making clear the role of the Consoler for them, of the Paraclete who denounces the sin of the world.
Jesus is our support, the loveliest example of Love the Father has given us. Jesus goes to the Father and so he provides for our defence in a hard world.
Jesus always reports to the Father, he was always in His benevolent Gaze.
We are going to place our life under God’s gaze, the gaze of Our Heavenly Father so that he will keep us under his protection. This is how the Paraclete is given to us by Jesus who dwells within us.He will be the One who defends us.
Jesus’ disciples will find in Him the help they need to bear witness to Him when they will be persecuted by the world.
In order to remain in God’s intimacy, we need the Holy Spirit for the spiritual combat is a hard one :
’They will throw you out of the synagogues. And even the time will come when all those who kill you will imagine that they are offering up a sacrifice to God. They will do so because they know neither the Father nor myself’, said Jesus.
We need the Paraclete so as to be defended against any accusations against us. As people who are baptised, confirmed and nourished by the Eucharist, we shall find strength in God, in the Defender whom we need so much.
The Apostle Saint John will say : ’If your heart condemned you, God is greater than your heart. ..I have spoken in this way so that there will be no reason to fall for you.“”I have told you all this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues, and indeed the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is doing a holy service to God."
When you are taken up to be delivered, so not be concerned about what you shall say, but say what will be given to you at that moment : for it is not you who will speak, but the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit really is the Defender of attacked disciples.
In John, the Paraclete becomes the accuser of the world and how it works.
The disciples’ testimony of Jesus is the same as the witness the Spirit of Truth gives to Jesus.
In the allegory of the vine, the Apostle John shows to us that we ought to live like Jesus as a beloved child of the Father. He proposes to us that we remain in His Love, remain at the Source so as to have life. We are in need of the help of the Holy Spirit for we are made for Peace and for communion, and adversity is hard for us to live!
The Holy Spirit cries out in our hearts : ’Abba, Father!’ And again ’Jesus, Saviour.’
When the Defender will come’, says Jesus, ’He will reassure you. I am telling you this so you shall not fall.’
The Holy Spirit is our Defender in the world and also within ourselves, when forces of death and depression take hold of us. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is given to us so that we may continue to live out Jesus’ Mission.
“These things they will do because they have never known either the Father or me. But I have told you all this, so that when the time for it comes you may remember that I told you.”
Jesus’ Love is demanding, it can’t be genuine unless it is demanding. We discover how our hearts are filled with pride and independence. And yet within us there are so many pains and anguish and all the miseries of sinful nature.
The Spirit will communicate everything that is to come, in a deep understanding of Jesus’ message, when faced with all kinds of different events.
The Paraclete continues Jesus’ very work within us. As the Father communicates all things to Jesus, the Paraclete communicates to us everything that is in Jesus. He reveals to us everything that comes from the Father.
Jesus is always with us in faith, He sends us the Defender who introduces us into great Truth faced with the adversity and world conflicts.
The Defender is given to us to overcome the darkness of the world whenever we go through a spiritual combat.
Jesus is the Way who puts us on our feet again, He is the Way who saves us. He has taught us how situate ourselves when adversity comes. In following Jesus, we shall have to live faced with the ’mystery’ of iniquity. The Spirit of Truth will bear witness in my favour’, said Jesus.
We ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to be born again in His Light.
MONDAY of the 6th WEEK of EASTER
’When the Paraclete comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be my witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning says Jesus.’
On this background of what Jesus says to his disciples about the hatred of the world,Jesus is already preparing what he will make clear about the role of the Paraclete ,in chapter 16,8-11., that is, he will denounce the sin of the world. To the extent that Christians are persecuted throughout the world, by the fact that the Paraclete dwells in them ,Jesus’ witnesses will bear witness to Jesus, lending their voice to the testimony of the Spirit of Truth. Linked to what precedes them, these words of Jesus on the coming of the Holy Spirit explains why the world treats Jesus’ disciples as he treats Jesus himself : because the Paraclete who lives in them has them represent Jesus to the world.
These two verses make up a kind of key about the very important role of the Paraclete, such as it is presented in the last speech of Jesus given in a quite particular light. This we find again in the eschatological speech made by Jesus,. This is found in the synoptic gospels or parallel texts: In order to dwell in intimacy with Jesus we need the Holy Spirit ,for the spiritual combat is indeed very hard! "They will put you out of the synagogues. And the time is coming even when those who will kill you will imagine that they are offering a sacrifice to God. They will do that because they do not know neither the Father nor me.’, says Jesus. We need to be defended from all interior and exterior accusations due to our fragility because of our weakness and we need also to be defended from ourselves. It is because we are baptised, confirmed and nourished by the Eucharist that we find the strength in God. He is the Defender whom we need. The apostle John will say ,
’If your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart. I have spoken to you like this so that there will be no reason for falling in you.’
’I have said this to you so you might not fall. They will put you out of the synagogue. And even, the time will come when all those who will kill you will imagine that they offer up a sacrifice to God.’
Mk.13 : 10 ’and when they will take you to deliver you, do not be concerned about what you should say, but say what comes to you at that moment; for it is not you who will speak but the Holy Spirit.’
Mt.10 :17- ’Beware of men : they will deliver you to the Sandrehins and will whip you in the synagogues;’ ’
Mt. 10:18- ’You will be treated before the governors and kings, for my name’s sake, to give witness before them and before pagans.’
Mt.10: 19 ’But when they will deliver you, do not be worried about what you shall say or how you shall say it :what you are called to say will be given to you at that very moment.’
Mt.10 : 20- ’for it won’t be you who shall speak, but the Spirit of your Father who shall speak in you.’
The Holy Spirit really is the Defender of the attacked disciples. In John 16, 8-11, the Paraclete becomes the accuser of the world and its agitation.
The witness of disciples vis a vis to Jesus is therefore identical to the witness that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the Truth in Jesus .After the Resurrection, Peter will dare say to the members of the Sandrehin, the Jewish Senate :-
’We are witnesses of these events, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those whom he obeys.’ (Acts 5, 32) In the allegory of the vine, the apostle John manifests to us that we should live, like Jesus, as a beloved child of the Father. He invites us to live in his Love in order to remain at the source so as to have life. We need help from the Holy Spirit for we are made for Peace and for communion. Adversity is so hard for us! The Holy Spirit cries out in our hearts ’Abba, Father !’
and again ’Jesus, Saviour !’ When the Defender Jesus will come, he will reassure you ’I have said this so you will not fall’. The Holy Spirit is our defender against the outside world. He is also our defender from the inside, when the forces of death and depression take a hold of us. The Holy Spirit is given to us at Pentecost so that we can continue to live the Mission Jesus has given us.
In which way are we to understand that the Spirit will communicate to us what is to come? Not, it seems, as a supplement of revelation, but as a deep understanding of Jesus’ message faced with the events concerning all the periods of mankind’s history. In this sense, the Paraclete continues the very work of Jesus, present by Him, in Him, and through Him at all periods of history.
16, 14 All the Paraclete does is receive and communicate what comes to him from Jesus. Jesus glorifies the Father by revealing Him to men. The Paraclete glorifies Jesus by revealing him to men.
16,15 AS the Father communicates everything to Jesus and as the Paraclete communicates everything that is in Jesus, the Paraclete reveals first of all what comes from the Father. In St John’s Gospel, the Paraclete receives only that which comes from the Father in Jesus; everything he gives us comes from Jesus. Jesus is always with us, our faith tells us so.He sends us the Defender who introduces us into a great Truth, for we have a hard time coping with adversity and conflicts. The Defender is given to us because of the world of darkness that we go through in spiritual combat. Enveloped by the Father’s love Jesus carries on his way. It is the way that leads us to get onto our feet again, a way that saves us. Jesus has taught us how to situate ourselves in adversity :’ Why do you strike me?’ he says to the soldier’ if I have said something that is true?’ And again, to Pilate, Jesus will say ’Are you saying that from yourself or have others said it about me?’ At other times Jesus kept silent, not saying a word. In the wake of Jesus, we too shall have to go through "the mystery of iniquity’. The Spirit of Truth will witness in my favour’, he said.