SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER "C"

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Cycle “C”: John 14, 15-21

 Fr. Arthur Tonne tells a delightful story of a Christian gentleman. This gentleman wanted to communicate to soldiers on a military base the love of Christ for every one of them. But by army rule he was prohibited entry to the camp. So, how would he spread the message? He had several thousand hand mirrors delivered as gifts kind courtesy the military chaplain. On the back of the mirror he had printed the message from John 3, 16: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.”  Just under this text the gentleman added this message: “If you wish to see whom God loves, turn this around.” Each one saw his own face.

            In effect, Jesus in this Gospel is giving to each of his people a mirror, not made of glass and wood, but made of words. He took pains to hold before them the bold message that he would not leave them orphans precisely because he loved every one of them. Try to recall the setting. The occasion was the Last Supper. The Master had just announced his impending departure. The apostles were thrown into consternation and sadness. Now, being the astute Teacher he was, the Christ had to lift his people off the floor and put them back on their cushions. He promised to continue his relationship with them through a Helper or Advocate. The Helper is of course the Holy Spirit. The Greek word is “Paracletos”, also popularly translated as Comforter. But this Comforter is not one of those people who jump out of an Ambulance when you are hurt; someone who stands about in the wings waiting till we fall on our faces. He is not one of those sympathetic people who slip you a Hallmark “Get well soon” Card and tells you it could have been much worse. The Spirit will, indeed, do all that, but that is only his assignment as a Dutch uncle. The Spirit is more than that.

            The Paracletos, as Jesus understood the term, is one who will hasten to help us when we find ourselves between the rock and the hard place. He will reach out to us much before we fall on our faces. He will be our hero from Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood all put together and much more. It is the Spirit who will be leading the cavalry when we find ourselves surrounded by the bad guys of whatever ilk.

            A much used expression among people we live and work with is, “It’s just too stressful. I just can’t cope any longer.” Sometimes students, working and unemployed people talk like that. To their surprise, I tell them that I find myself in similar situations often. And so do you. But then, apart from a drink of cool water or a hot cup of tea, I call upon Jesus, invoking his holy name and begging him to breathe his Spirit into me, like God once did blow into the mouth of Adam after forming his body from the slime of the earth. And more often than not, what had been an intolerable situation eases and sometimes disappears entirely, or, best of all, I am able to live with it. I have learned to live with a lot of pain. My God, if I were looking for peace and comfort I wouldn’t take four conveyances to reach here and celebrate the Eucharist for you, which I thoroughly enjoy. In many areas of my Christian life, I am a fundamentalist. I do hold Jesus to all his promises. I do expect him to deliver. And happily I am seldom disappointed. But I also want to emphasise a point that all sensible people will underline, and that is, that the Helper or Paraclete does not crash parties. He never forces himself on anybody. He waits for an invitation. Then he will come and ring the doorbell with his elbow because his hands will be filled with his gifts. One clever prose-poet sums up the Paracletos in these lyrical words: “Eternally the Holy Spirit is love between the

Father and the Son; but historically the Holy Spirit is love between God and the world.”

            Jesus Christ was not pulling the legs of his apostles when he made them this extravagant promise. Nor are people of faith bluffed into believing that the promise has gone somewhere into limbo as of now. Limbo has been abolished. People of faith, under any stressful circumstances always come up with some faith formula like this: “The Spirit will think up something.” Missionaries and their helpers working under threat and hopeless situations will repeat that quite contentedly and with reassurance. None of them will show fear or panic. They are serene. The Spirit has much to do with that serenity.

            And Jesus, for his part, can depend on such people. He can bank on such people who have gone beyond Good Friday to the Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The mysteries of Jesus have become our mysteries. Whatever happened to him must happen to us, and that includes his glorious Resurrection. We find the vivid story of Jesus lying close to ours. Jesus makes our story his, turning our life and death inside out to lead us to a happy future that will last forever. He will takes our sinfulness and brokenness and make them into something beautiful. In fact, he is doing it already.

PRAYER (Fr. Jean Jacques Olier, 1608 – 1658, 49 years)

O Jesus, living in Mary

Come and live in your servants

In the Spirit of your holiness

In the fullness of your strength

In the goodness of your virtues

In the perfection of your ways

In the communion of your mysteries

Be Lord over every hostile power

In your own Spirit,

To the glory of the Father.

Amen.