Sixth Sunday of Easter – the Holy Spirit and the circle of Love

Readings:

• First reading: Acts 8:5-8.14-17
• Psalm: 65 “Cry out with joy to God all the earth”
• Second reading: 1Pt 3:15-18
• Gospel: Jn 14:15-21

“I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you for ever” (Jn 14:16)

Today’s Gospel reading is a part of the Lord’s farewell discourses that took place after the last supper. Jesus starts and ends up his speech speaking about the commandments He left to his disciples.

“If you love me you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15); and “Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him” (Jn 14:21).

These words seem to draw a “circle” that contains the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And we are invited to join this circularity of Love: the Father in the Son, the Son in us and we in Him, and the Holy Spirit, who remains with us for ever.

Our human mind struggles to understand this “circle”, it is something that “slips from our grasp”. But, at the meantime, it sounds like an invitation to go more deeply into the fascinating mystery of the Holy Trinity.

“Oh, eternal Trinity, You are a deep Sea, into which the deeper I enter the more I find, and the more I find the more I seek; the soul cannot be satiated in Your abyss, for she continually hungers after You, the eternal Trinity, desiring to see You with light in Your Light” (St Catherine of Siena).

Which commandment does Jesus leave to his disciples? “This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15: 12-13)

He loved us with a boundless love, laying down his life for each of us.

And He calls us to do the same: by this we will know if we truly love Him and if we really are his disciples.

But how can we manage to love so much? Certainly not by our own efforts.

It is the divine Love we have received that teaches us how to love!

“Christ’s love is a compelling motive” (2 Cor 5:14).

This compelling love, that moves us inwardly, is the Holy Spirit. We are temple of the Holy Spirit, by virtue of our baptism. And Jesus promised that He will pray the Heavenly Father to send the “Paraclete” (“advocate” or “defence lawyer”) to be with us for ever.

How does the Paraclete work in our lives? He is the One who guards us in our spiritual and daily battles. He is the Spirit of Truth. He upholds our cause in the Father’s court, where He defends us from the accusations of Satan, the prince of lies (cf. Zec 3:1; Jb 1:3)

As the Feast of Pentecost draws near, let us join the prayer of the Church that, in Christ, asks for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,
Come and dwell in me.
Promise of the Father, Gift of the Son,
Kindle in us the fire of your Love,
So that we can love our brethren unconditionally
Send me to inflame the earth.
Use me as You wish.
                                         Amen.