Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Recently, I’ve been pondering how marvelous it is that Jesus, our Messiah, Lord, and Savior, has given us everything we need to follow Him as disciples. We have a high calling from God; the path of discipleship is not easy—it is fraught with challenges and obstacles, and our fears, insecurities, and sin get in our way. And yet . . . and yet despite the daunting aspects of this journey, Christ has truly given us everything we need to be perfected in love and to follow Him every step of the way. We do not undertake this journey alone; we are not left to our own feeble efforts.
In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus promising to send us the Spirit of Truth. This is none other than the Holy Spirit himself, our Advocate, our Paraclete, our Comforter—the Love eternally exchanged between Father and Son. Jesus assures us, “But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.” This Spirit of Truth will be our divine Guide – He will guide us, lead and direct us to all truth. The world wants to relativize truth, but truth only exists in the mind of God. We have access to God’s truth through the Holy Spirit of Truth, who is our Guide. When we find ourselves confused as to what is true or truth, we need only seek the Holy Spirit who is faithful to reveal it to us.
Jesus continues, “He [the Spirit] will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you." What does this mean? Our Gospel reading from last Friday helps us to better understand. Jesus says, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me . . . whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.” Throughout his “Farewell Discourse” given to us in John’s Gospel, Jesus helps us to understand the relationships within the Holy Trinity. Here Jesus reveals that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. Father and Son share everything. God the Father is at work through God the Son. The Son reveals and declares the Father’s truth. The Son enables His followers to do not only the same works that He does, but even greater ones! How is this possible? Because the crucified and risen Savior ascended to the Father and Father and Son sent the Spirit into the lives of all believers!
I would sum it up like this: the Father is at work in and through the Son; the Son is at work in and through us as believers; we are empowered to carry out the Father’s will through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are sharers in the divine life; we are partakers in the work of God in the world! Wow!!
Again, how do we accomplish this precious assignment that at times feels completely overwhelming and for which we may, at times, feel ill-equipped? Remember, everything that the Father has, is the Son’s as well. Everything the Son has, is ours as well, through the Holy Spirit who fills us and dwells within us. And, we have the Eucharist, the Source and Summit of our lives—Christ Himself, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, who comes to us and becomes part of us. Every single reception of Holy Communion becomes an opportunity to become more Christ-like and hence to do those “greater works” that Jesus promised we would do. How could it not make us more like Him as we receive Him in faith and invite Him to consume us with his divine presence, even as we consume Him.
God has truly given us everything we need to fulfill our mandate, our Great Commission, to go and make disciples, to share his love and his truth with everyone we encounter today. God has given us his Holy Spirit, he has given us the Eucharist and all the other Sacraments, he has given us his Word, and he has made us part of the Body of Christ—strengthened and encouraged by one another, and led and directed by our Head, Christ Himself and by the Spirit of Truth. May we each be encouraged by this truth today—we are not alone; we have been given everything we need to live holy lives as faithful disciples. Amen! Alleluia!
—Elizabeth Wells