20240507 THE ADVOCACY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
07 May 2024, Tuesday, 6th Week of Eastertide
First reading | Acts 16:22-34 © |
Become a believer and you will be saved, and your household too
The crowd joined in and showed their hostility to Paul and Silas, so the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be flogged. They were given many lashes and then thrown into prison, and the gaoler was told to keep a close watch on them. So, following his instructions, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Late that night Paul and Silas were praying and singing God’s praises, while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly there was an earthquake that shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open and the chains fell from all the prisoners. When the gaoler woke and saw the doors wide open he drew his sword and was about to commit suicide, presuming that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted at the top of his voice, ‘Don’t do yourself any harm; we are all here.’ The gaoler called for lights, then rushed in, threw himself trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas, and escorted them out, saying, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They told him, ‘Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and your household too.’ Then they preached the word of the Lord to him and to all his family. Late as it was, he took them to wash their wounds, and was baptised then and there with all his household. Afterwards he took them home and gave them a meal, and the whole family celebrated their conversion to belief in God.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 137(138):1-3,7-8 © |
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:
you have heard the words of my mouth.
In the presence of the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple.
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I thank you for your faithfulness and love,
which excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul.
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
You stretch out your hand and save me,
your hand will do all things for me.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your hands.
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen and shone upon us
whom he redeemed with his blood.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Jn16:7,13 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I will send you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord;
he will lead you to the complete truth.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 16:5-11 © |
Unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Now I am going to the one who sent me.
Not one of you has asked, “Where are you going?”
Yet you are sad at heart because I have told you this.
Still, I must tell you the truth:
it is for your own good that I am going
because unless I go,
the Advocate will not come to you;
but if I do go,
I will send him to you.
And when he comes,
he will show the world how wrong it was,
about sin,
and about who was in the right,
and about judgement:
about sin: proved by their refusal to believe in me;
about who was in the right: proved by my going to the Father and your seeing me no more;
about judgement: proved by the prince of this world being already condemned.’
THE ADVOCACY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 16:22-34; PS 138:1-3,7-8; JOHN 16:5-11]
In the gospel, the disciples were sad when they knew Jesus was going away. This is understandable. We will also be sad when we know that our loved ones are going away, even if not in death but simply to another place, another land or another job. When we have grown attached to the person we love or are dependent on for strength, love or needs, we will be anxious and troubled. However, Jesus assured His disciples that He would not be leaving them orphans because He would be sending the Advocate, the Holy Spirit who will be with them. He said, “Yet you are sad at heart because I have told you this. Still, I must tell you the truth: it is for your own good that I am going because unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I do go, I will send him to you.” Jesus will come back again in the Holy Spirit. If Jesus did not go, He would always be confined to specific places and be available only to a small group of people. But in His Spirit, He could be present in all His believers, regardless of space and time. For this reason, it would be better that He returned to the Father so that He could ask the Father to send us the Holy Spirit.
What does the Holy Spirit do? Three things, He would do. Firstly, “when he comes, he will show the world how wrong it was, about sin.” What is it about sin? The Lord said, “proved by their refusal to believe in me.” The ultimate sin is the sin of impiety, as St Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. So they are without excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.” (Rom 1:18-21) In rejecting Jesus, the world is led to sin. “God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossipers, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” (Rom 1:28-31)
Secondly, the Holy Spirit will reveal “who was in the right, proved by my going to the Father and your seeing me no more.” Indeed, those who condemned Jesus to death on the cross thought they did the right thing. The Jews thought Jesus was a false messiah, the Romans thought he was a political rebel and the people thought He was a fraud. By His death and resurrection, Jesus showed that death does not have the last word. The Father who raised Jesus from the dead was His vindication; that the Father approved of all that Jesus said and did. The resurrection was the seal of the Father on the life and work of Jesus. If Jesus were to stay on earth and did not die, it would have been difficult to claim His divine identity with the Father. At most, we would say that Jesus was a good man, a man of wisdom and compassion. But we would not be able to affirm with conviction that all that He said is true unless He is God. His return to the Father at the resurrection and ascension confirms that Jesus belongs to God and is One with God.
Thirdly, when the Holy Spirit comes, He will expose the truth about ourselves. He will show the world what is true judgement by proving that the prince of this world is already condemned. By condemning Jesus, we have already condemned ourselves because we reject the light. The Lord had already said this earlier to Nicodemus, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” (Jn 3:17-21)
The words of Jesus and His promises came true in the life of the apostles. We can be certain that when St John wrote all these, he had in mind the Christians who were persecuted by the authorities and their fellow Jews. They had to face opposition and persecution daily. Yet, they were not fearful or sad but remained defiant, focused and singular-minded in proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus. This was because they had the Holy Spirit and were led by the Spirit, they were joyful in suffering and in humiliation because they knew that they were suffering for the name of Jesus, not for themselves. Indeed, if not for the presence of the Holy Spirit, how could Paul and Silas, who were whipped and flogged, locked in prison and in stocks continue to pray and sing God’s praises? They were not lamenting or groaning in their pain or anxious about their life or their future. On the contrary, although they were in prison, they were interiorly free in their hearts. Such genuine expression of joy and freedom in the midst of pain and imprisonment had the prisoners quietly listening to them. They must have been amazed at what they saw and wondered how they could imbibe that same joy and freedom the disciples had.
Again, the Holy Spirit came to vindicate their feelings and their testimony by freeing them from jail and from their chains. When praying and singing God’s praises, “suddenly there was an earthquake that shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open and the chains fell from all the prisoners.” This is a divine confirmation of the truth of what Paul and Silas was teaching. God was with them and they did nothing wrong. God vindicated them and proved who was right. The so-called magistrates did not investigate properly and fairly. Instead, they simply listened to the powerful who were incensed by Paul who delivered their slave-girl from the evil spirit that gave her the spirit of divination and from whom they were making money by her fortune-telling. The judges listened to the mob who were most likely instigated by others. By breaking the chains and opening the prison door, the Lord confirmed their innocence. Since the wicked people did not offer justice, God showed His divine justice by setting Paul and Silas free.
Finally, the Holy Spirit comes to bring righteousness to those who believe in Him. “When the gaoler woke and saw the doors wide open he drew his sword and was about to commit suicide, presuming that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted at the top of his voice, ‘Don’t do yourself any harm; we are all here.'” It is strange that the prisoners did not rush to get out. It was because only those who were converted to the Lord are truly set free. The gaoler rushed in, “threw himself trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas, and escorted them out, saying, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'” The answer is clear, “Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and your household too.” That night, after hearing the Word of God preached to them by Paul, he and his entire household was baptized.
Baptism gives new life through the forgiveness of sins and healing of the body, and welcome into the family of God. “Late as it was, he took them to wash their wounds, and was baptised then and there with all his household. Afterwards he took them home and gave them a meal, and the whole family celebrated their conversion to belief in God.” The gaoler who washed the wounds of Paul and Silas were now washed clean of their sins. The act of washing the wounds of Paul and Silas was a sign of their repentance and regret. Hence, after the washing of the wounds of Paul, they were then washed of their sins through baptism. All were healed because of their faith in Jesus. This faith in Jesus was expressed in their love and hospitality given to each other. That they could now sit together to have a meal meant that faith in Christ had reconciled them as a family of God.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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