Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
The two readings offered today technically don’t have an intentional connection. We are following through the adventures (misadventures in this case?) of Paul and Silas and continue to listen to Jesus’ last supper discourse in the Gospel of John. If you’re like me, the end of this Gospel is somewhat obscure, as it relates to a kind of legal justice. But what drew my attention was that Jesus is actually consoling the disciples in their grief with promise of when “the Advocate” comes. This is the title Jesus gives to the Spirit in this part of John. Advocate: helper, intercessor. And as I read Acts, it seems a wonderful example of what happens when the Spirit comes. The “helper” is first present with Paul and Silas, who despite being in an abject condition, having been beaten and now imprisoned, they pray and sing. The psalm 138 expresses both “I will sing your praise…” and “when I called you answered me, you built up strength within me.” So the Spirit is there with them in prison and then manifests itself in an earthquake that might have allowed them to escape. But they continue to pray and reassure their jailer not to despair because he’s failed in his task to keep these “criminals” secure. The Holy Spirit has broken the chains that bind and makes the jailer into someone who tends their wounds. We see in all this that the Holy Spirit turns the world upside down for good and for communion. So when we are grieving the state of the world and feel God is distant, let us recall that the Helper, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit is still at work. Expect a miracle!
—Sr. Laura M. Leming, FMI, PhD (Marianist Sister)