6th Sunday of Easter May 22, 2022 Fr. John C. Garrett
Welcome to the first week of our message series “Veni Sancte Spiritus,” which simply means Come Holy Spirit. This is a three week series on the Holy Spirit, which will lead us up to the celebration of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out into the Church. The goal is to help us want more of the Holy Spirit so that we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives. Because if we invite the Holy Spirit – he will come into our lives. Why do we want more of the Holy Spirit in our lives? When we receive more of the Holy Spirit we experience Jesus’ presence in a more intense and personal way. When we receive more of the Holy Spirit we receive the power to dominate and defeat our sins and shortcomings. When we receive more of the Holy Spirit, our spiritual gifts are activated so that we can serve God. When we receive more of the Holy Spirit, we increase our love for God and appreciation for his words in Scripture. When we receive more of the Holy Spirit, we have greater wisdom to navigate the complexity of life a make better decisions. When we receive more of the Holy Spirit, we receive a boldness and courage to live out our faith. When we receive more of the Holy Spirit we experience the fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, joy peace, patience kindness, goodness, gentleness, love and self control. Which one of those don’t you want? While it is simple to invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, there can be obstacles that can hinder us from making the invitation. The first can be simply ignorance. You might not know anything about the Holy Spirit or that you were supposed to invite the Holy Spirit into your life. St. Paul once met some people who were disciples of Jesus, but when he asked them about the Holy Spirit, they told him that they had never heard that there was a Holy Spirit. Now, most of us have likely heard of the Holy Spirit, but some of us might not have given any thought to inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives. A second reason can be indifference. We just don’t care. We all have busy lives. To receive the spirit we have to make some space in our lives. We have to wait for the Holy Spirit and waiting isn’t something we like to do. A third reason can be intimidation. We are intimidated about receiving the Holy Spirit because it can mean a loss of control. The Scriptures describe times when the Holy Spirit comes very peacefully and gently. This is why we describe the Holy Spirit like a dove and one of the fruits of the holy Spirit is peace. But on the flip side, there are other passages of Scripture where the Spirit comes like a force that cannot be ignored. Fourth reason – unbelief. We don’t really believe that God’s spirit is real or that the promises of the Spirit are really possible for our lives. Ignorance, indifference, intimidation and unbelief can get in the way of the Spirit coming into our lives. So over the next few weeks we are going to overcome these obstacles and we are going to start today by looking at a passage from the Gospel of St. John. The passage we hear from in today’s Gospel takes place during the Last Supper, and it is the first time that Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it remains with you, and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). Jesus has told the Apostles that he is going away, but he will send them another Advocate who will give them wisdom. God wants to give us wisdom and counsel at the right time in our lives so that we avoid dead ends and unnecessary frustrations. Jesus tells the apostles and he tells us that he wants to give us the counselor who can tell us how to make better choices in life so that we avoid dead ends and frustrations, so that we make better choices with our lives. The words counsel and advocate have a legal overtone to them. If you were on trial you would want an advocate, a counselor to navigate through it. Well here’s the deal: we are on trial. Life is a trial and a test. Our relationships and the health of our souls often depend on navigating these trials well. We can often feel like we don’t know necessarily what to do. Jesus says, he will give us an Advocate and when does he say this advocate is available to be with us? “To be with you always.” The verse also tells us about the Spirit – He is the Spirit of Truth. Now it certainly does mean truth in the sense of being real, but in calling the Spirit, the spirit of Truth, St. John means that the Holy Spirit is always with us and faithful. The Spirit is loyal to us and looking out for our best interest. Something else we learn about the Spirit here. The world cannot accept the Spirit because it neither sees it or knows it. So to have access to the Spirit we need to live in relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus continues in his teaching to the disciples at the last Supper. He says, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me” (John 14:23-24). The Holy Spirit reminds us of God’s love for us and to love others. The Holy Spirit fills us up with God’s love and helps us to know the love God has shown for us by sending his Son to die for us. As the Spirit fills us with knowledge of God’s love in our minds, and appreciation for God’s love in our hearts, it becomes easier for us to love the people around us by serving them being kind to them, encouraging them, accepting them for their faults and failures.