Catholic Caucus: Daily (Sunday) Mass Readings, 04-27-08

Reading 1
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and proclaimed the Christ to them.
With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip
when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,
came out of many possessed people,
and many paralyzed or crippled people were cured.
There was great joy in that city.

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem
heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God,
they sent them Peter and John,
who went down and prayed for them,
that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
for it had not yet fallen upon any of them;
they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they laid hands on them
and they received the Holy Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20

R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,
sing praise to the glory of his name;
proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!”
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
“Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,
sing praise to your name!”
Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has changed the sea into dry land;
through the river they passed on foot;
therefore let us rejoice in him.
He rules by his might forever.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading II
1 Pt 3:15-18

Beloved:
Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.
Always be ready to give an explanation
to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,
but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear,
so that, when you are maligned,
those who defame your good conduct in Christ
may themselves be put to shame.
For it is better to suffer for doing good,
if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered for sins once,
the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,
that he might lead you to God.
Put to death in the flesh,
he was brought to life in the Spirit.

Gospel
Jn 14:15-21

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”

Regina Coeli

Jn 14:15-26
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
15	If you love me, keep my commandments.	si diligitis me mandata mea servate
16	And I will ask the Father: and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever:	et ego rogabo Patrem et alium paracletum dabit vobis ut maneat vobiscum in aeternum
17	The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him. But you shall know him; because he shall abide with you and shall be in you.	Spiritum veritatis quem mundus non potest accipere quia non videt eum nec scit eum vos autem cognoscitis eum quia apud vos manebit et in vobis erit
18	I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you.	non relinquam vos orfanos veniam ad vos
19	Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more. But you see me: because I live, and you shall live.	adhuc modicum et mundus me iam non videt vos autem videtis me quia ego vivo et vos vivetis
20	In that day you shall know that I am in my Father: and you in me, and I in you.	in illo die vos cognoscetis quia ego sum in Patre meo et vos in me et ego in vobis
21	He that hath my commandments and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father: and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.	qui habet mandata mea et servat ea ille est qui diligit me qui autem diligit me diligetur a Patre meo et ego diligam eum et manifestabo ei me ipsum

15. If you love me, keep my commandments.
16. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.

CHRYS. Our Lord having said, Whatsoever you shall ask in My name, that I will do; that they might not think simply asking would be enough, He adds, If you love Me, keep My commandments. And then I will do what you ask, seems to be His meaning. Or the disciples having heard Him say, I go to the Father, and being troubled at the thought of it, He says, To love Me, is not to be troubled, but to keep My commandments: this is love, to obey and believe in Him who is loved.

And as they had been expressing a strong desire for His bodily presence, He assures them that His absence w ill be supplied to them in another way: And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter

AUG. Wherein He shows too that He Himself is the Comforter. Paraclete means advocate, and is applied to Christ: We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 Jn 2:1).

ALCUIN. Paraclete, i.e. Comforter. They had then one Comforter, who comforted and elevated them by the sweetness of His miracles, and His preaching.

DIDYMUS. But the Holy Ghost was another Comforter: differing not in nature, but in operation. For whereas our Savior in His office of Mediator, and of Messenger, and as High Priest, made supplication for our sins; the Holy Ghost is a Comforter in another sense, i.e. as consoling our griefs. But do not infer from the different operations of the Son and the Spirit, a difference of nature. For in other places we find the Holy Spirit performing the office of intercessor with the Father, as, The Spirit Himself intercedes for us. And the Savior, on the other hand, pours consolation into those hearts that need it: as in Maccabees, He strengthened those of the people that were brought low (1 Macc 14:15).

CHRYS. He says, I will ask the Father, to make them believe Him: which they could not have done, had He simply said, I will send

AUG Yet to show that His works are inseparable from His Father's, He says below, When I shall go, I will send Him to you.

CHRYS. But what had He more than the Apostles, if He could only ask the Father to give others the Spirit? The Apostles did this often even without praying.

ALCUIN. I will ask - He says, as being the inferior in respect of His humanity - My Father, with Whom I am equal and consubstantial in respect of My Divine nature.

CHRYS. That He may abide with you for ever. The Spirit does not depart even at death. He intimates too that the Holy Ghost will not suffer death, or go away, as He has done. But that the mention of the Comforter might not lead them to expect another incarnation, a Comforter to be seen with the eye, He adds, Even the Spirit of truth Whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him.

AUG. This is the Holy Ghost in the Trinity, Whom the Catholic faith professes to be consubstantial and coeternal with the Father and the Son.

CHRYS. The Spirit of truth He calls Him, because He unfolds the figures of the Old Testament. The world are the wicked, seeing is certain knowledge; sight being the most certain of the senses.

BEDE. Note too, that when He calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth, He shows that the Holy Spirit is His Spirit: then when He says He is given by the Father, He declares Him to be the Spirit of the Father also. Thus the Holy Ghost proceeds both from the Father, and from the Son.

GREG. The Holy Spirit kindles in every one, in whom He dwells, the desire of things invisible. And since worldly minds love only things visible, this world receives Him not, because it rises not to the love of things invisible. In proportion as secular minds enlarge themselves by the spread of their desires, in that proportion they narrow themselves, with respect to admitting Christ.

AUG. Thus the world, i.e. the lovers of the world, cannot, He says, receive the Holy Spirit: that is to say, unrighteousness cannot be righteous. The world, i.e. the lovers of the world, cannot receive Him, because it sees Him not. The love of the world has not invisible eyes wherewith to see that which can only be seen invisibly. It follows: But you know Him, for He dwells with you. And that they might not think this I meant a visible dwelling, in the sense in which we use the phrase with respect to a guest, He adds, And shall be in you.

CHRYS. As if He said, He will not dwell with you as I have done, but will dwell in your souls.

AUG. To be in a place is prior to dwelling. Be in you, is the explanation of dwell with you: i.e. shows that the latter means not that He is seen, but that He is known. He must be in us, that the knowledge of Him may be in us. We see the Holy Ghost then in us, in our consciences.

GREG. But if the Holy Spirit abides in the disciples, how is it a special mark of the Mediator that He abides in Him. We shall better understand if we distinguish between the different gifts of the Spirit. In respect of those gifts without which we cannot attain to salvation, the Holy Spirit ever abides in all the Elect: but in respect of those which do not relate to our own salvation, but to the procuring that of others, He does not always abide in them. For He sometimes withdraws His miraculous gifts, that His grace may be possessed with humility. Christ has Him without measure and always.

CHRYS. This speech levels at a stroke, as it were, the opposite heresies. The word another, shows the distinct personality of the Spirit: the word Paraclete, His consubstantiality.

AUG. Comforter, the title of the Holy Spirit, the third Person in the Trinity, the Apostle applies to God: God that comforts those that are cast down, comforted us. The Holy Spirit therefore Who comforts those that are cast down, is God. Or if they still have this said by the Apostle of the Father or the Son, let them not any longer separate the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, in His peculiar office of comforting.

AUG. But when the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom 5:5), how shall we love and keep the commandments of Christ, so as to receive the Spirit, when we are not able to love or to keep them, unless we have received the Spirit? Does love in us go first, i.e. do we so love Christ and keep His commandments as to deserve to receive the Holy Spirit, and to have the love of God the Father shod abroad in our hearts? This is a perverse opinion. For he who does not love the Father, does not love the Son, however he may think he does. It remains for us to understand, that he who loves has the Holy Spirit, and by having Him, attains to having more of Him, and by having more of Him, to loving more. The disciples had already the Spirit which our Lord promised; but they were to be given more of Him: they had Him secretly, they were to receive Him openly. The promise is made both to him who has the Spirit, and to him who has Him not; to the former, that he shall have Him; to the latter, that He shall have more of Him.

CHRYS. When He had cleansed His disciples by the sacrifice of His passion, and their sins were remitted, and they were sent forth to dangers and trials, it was necessary that they should receive the Holy Spirit abundantly. But they were made to wait some time for this gift, in order that they might feel the want of it, and so be the more grateful for it when it came.

18. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
19. Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more: but you see me; because I live, you shall live also.
20. At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
21. He that has my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

AUG. That no one might think, because our Lord was about to give the Holy Spirit, that He would therefore not be present Himself in Him, He adds, I will not leave you comfortless. The Greek word signifies "wards." Although then the Son of God has made us the adopted sons of the Father, yet here He Himself shows the affection of a Father towards us.

CHRYS. At the first He said, Where I go you shall come; but as this was a long time off, He promises them the Spirit in the interval. And as they knew not what that was, He promises them that they most desired, His own presence, I will come to you, but intimates at the same time that they are not to look for the same kind of presence over again:

Yet a little while, and the world sees Me no more: as if He said, I will come to you, but not to live with you every day as I did before. And, I will come to you alone, He says, thus preventing any inconsistency with what He had said to the Jews: Henceforth you shall not see Me.

AUG. For the world saw Him then with the carnal eye, manifest in the flesh, though it did not see the Word hidden under the flesh. But after the resurrection He was unwilling to show even His flesh, except to His own followers, whom He allowed to see and to handle it: Yet a little while, and the world sees Me no more; but you shall see Me.

But, inasmuch as the world, by which are meant all who are aliens from His kingdom, will see Him at the last judgment, it is better perhaps to understand Him here as pointing to that time, when He will be taken for ever from the eyes of the wicked, to be seen thenceforth by those who love Him. A little while, He says, for that which seems a long lime to men, is but a moment in the eyes of God.

Because 1 live, you shall live also.

THEOPHYL. As if He said, Though I shall die, I shall rise again. And you shall live also, i.e. when you see Me risen again, you will rejoice, and be as dead men brought to life again.

CHRYS. To me however he seems to refer not only to the present life, but to the future; as if He said, The death of the cross shall not separate you from Me for ever, but only hide Me from you for a moment.

AUG. But why does He speak of life as present to Him, future to them? Because His resurrection preceded, theirs was to follow. His resurrection was about so soon to take place, that He speaks of it as present; theirs being deferred till the end of the world, He does not say you live, but you shall live. Because He lives, therefore we shall live: As by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:21).

It follows: In that day (the day of which He said, you shall live also) you shall know, i.e. whereas now you believe, then you shall see, that I am in the Father, and you in Me, and I in you. For when we shall have attained to that life in which death is swallowed up, then shall be finished that which is now begun by Him, that He should be in us, and we in Him.

CHRYS. Or, in that day, on which I shall rise again, you shall know. For His resurrection it was that established their faith. Then the powerful teaching of the Holy Spirit began. His saying, I am in the Father, expresses His humility; the next, And you in Me, and I in you, His humanity and God's assistance to Him. Scripture often uses the same words in different senses, as applied to God and to men.

HILARY. Or He means by this, that whereas He was in the Father by the nature of His divinity, and we in Him by means of His birth in the flesh; He on the other hand should be believed to be in us by the mystery of the Sacrament: as He Himself testified above: Whosoever eats My flesh, and drinks My blood, dwells in Me, and I in Him.

ALCUIN. By love, and the observance of His commandments, that will be perfected in us which He has begun, viz. that we should be in Him, and He in us. And that this blessedness may be understood to be promised to all, not to the Apostles only, He adds, He that has My commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves Me.

AUG. He that has them in , and keeps them in life; he that has them in words, and keeps them in works; he that has them by hearing, and keeps them by doing; he that has them by doing, and keeps them by persevering, he it is that loves Me. Love must be strewn by works, or it is a mere barren name.

THEOPHYL. As if He said, You think that by sorrowing, as you do, for my death you prove your affection; but I esteem the keeping of My commandments the evidence of love. And then He shows the privileged state of one who loves: And he that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him.

AUG. I will love him, as if now He did not love him. What means this? He explains it in what follows: And will manifest Myself to him, i.e. I love him so far as to manifest Myself to him; so that, as the reward of his faith, he will have sight. Now He only loves us so that we believe; then He will love us so that we see. And whereas we love now by believing that which we shall see, then we shall love by seeing that which we have believed.

AUG. He promises to show Himself to them that love Him as God with the Father, not in that body which He bore upon earth, and which the wicked saw.

THEOPHYL. For, as after the resurrection He was to appear to them in a body more assimilated to His divinity, that they might not take Him then for a spirit, or a phantom, He tells them now beforehand not to have misgivings upon seeing Him, but to remember that He shows Himself to them as a reward for their keeping His commandments; and that therefore they are bound ever to keep them, that they may ever enjoy the sight of Him.

Catena Aurea John 14

From: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

Philip’s Preaching in Samaria

[5] Philip went down to a city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ.
[6] And the multitudes with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip,
when they heard him and saw the signs which he did. [7] For unclean spirits
came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice; and many
who were paralyzed or lame were healed. [8] So there was much joy in that city.

Peter and John in Samaria

[14] Now when the Apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the
Word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, [15] who came down and prayed
for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; [16] for it had not yet fallen on any
of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [17] Then
they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

5. This is not Philip the Apostle (1:13) but one of the seven deacons appointed to
look after Christians in need (6:5). The Gospel is proclaimed to the Samaritans
—who also were awaiting the Messiah. This means that it now spreads beyond
the borders of Judea once and for all, and our Lord’s promise (Acts 1:8) is fulfilled:
“You shall by My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria.”

The despised Samaritans became the first to benefit from the Gospel’s determi-
nation to spread all over the world. We can sense St. Luke’s pleasure in reporting
its proclamation to the Samaritans; earlier he had already showed them in a favo-
rable light: he is the only Evangelist to recount the parable of the Good Samaritan
(cf. Luke 10:30-37) and to mention that the leper who came back to thank Jesus
after being cured was a Samaritan (cf. Luke 17:16). On the Samaritans in general,
see the note on John 4:20.

14-17. Here we see the Apostles exercising through Peter and John the authority
they have over the entire Church. The two Apostles proceed to confirm the dis-
ciples recently baptized by Philip: we may presume that in addition to laying their
hands on them to communicate the Holy Spirit, the Apostles made sure that they
had a correct grasp of the central points of the Gospel message. At this time the
Apostles constituted the spiritual center of the Church and took an active interest
in ensuring that the new communities were conscious of the links—doctrinal and
affective—that united them to the mother community in Jerusalem.

This passage bears witness to the existence of Baptism and the gift of the Holy
Spirit (or Confirmation) as two distinct sacramental rites. The most important
effects Christian Baptism has are the infusion of initial grace and the remission
of Original Sin and any personal sin; it is the first sacrament a person receives,
which is why it is called the “door of the Church”.

There is a close connection between Baptism and Confirmation, so much so that
in the early centuries of Christianity, Confirmation was administered immediately
after Baptism. There is a clear distinction between these two sacraments of
Christian initiation, which helps us understand the different effects they have.
A useful comparison is the difference, in natural life, between conception and
later growth (cf. “St. Pius V Catechism”, II, 3, 5). “As nature intends that all her
children should grow and attain full maturity [...], so the Catholic Church, the
common mother of all, earnestly wishes that, in those whom she has regenerated
by Baptism, the perfection of Christian manhood be completed” (”ibid.”, II, 3, 7).

“The nature of the Sacrament of Confirmation,” John Paul II explains, “grows out
of this endowment of strength which the Holy Spirit communicates to each bap-
tized person, to make him or her—as the well-known language of the Catechism
puts it—a perfect Christian and soldier of Christ, ready to witness boldly to His
resurrection and its redemptive power: ‘You shall be My witnesses’ (Acts 1:8)”
(”Homily”, 25 May 1980). “All Christians, incorporated into Christ and His Church
by Baptism, are consecrated to God. They are called to profess the faith which
they have received. By the Sacrament of Confirmation they are further endowed
by the Holy Spirit with special strength to be witnesses of Christ and sharers in
His mission of salvation” (”Homily in Limerick”, 1 October 1979). “This is a
sacrament which in a special way associates us with the mission of the Apostles,
in that it inserts each baptized person into the apostolate of the Church” (”Homily
in Cracow”, 10 June 1979). In the Sacrament of Confirmation divine grace anti-
cipates the aggressive and demoralizing temptations a young Christian man or
woman is likely to experience, and reminds them of the fact that they have a
vocation to holiness; it makes them feel more identified with the Church, their
Mother, and helps them live in accordance with their Catholic beliefs and convic-
tions. From their formative years Christ makes them defenders of the faith.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: 1 Peter 3:15-18

Undeserved Suffering is a Blessing

[15] But in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a
defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do
it with gentleness and reverence; [16] and keep your conscience clear, so that,
when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put
to shame. [17] For it is better to suffer for doing right, if that should be God’s
will, than for doing wrong.

Christ’s Suffering and Glorification

[18] For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous,
that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in
the spirit.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

3:13 - 4:19. The sacred writer now makes a series of appeals designed to give
hope to Christians suffering unjustly on account of Jesus’ name: he reminds them
that every baptized person is called to share in the paschal mystery of Christ, that
is, in his sufferings and in his glorification; just as he, after suffering unjustly, was
glorified (3:18-22), so too those who now suffer for Christ will have a part in his
glorious triumph (4:13-14).

The section begins and ends speaking about the Christian meaning of tribulation
(3:13-17 and 4:12-19): trials should not make them feel cowed or ashamed, nor
should they come as a surprise; on the contrary, they should fill them with joy
and lead them to glorify God for letting them partake in our Lord’s suffering.

The Apostle also points to one of the reasons for the misunderstandings they
experience: after Baptism they have broken with their previous sinful life and that
is something pagans cannot understand (4:1-6). Also, Christians should remember
that life is something very transient, and therefore they should practice prayer and
charity (4:7-11).

13-17. These verses act as an introduction to the central theme of this section
(3:13-4:19). They seem to be directed to people who are surprised to encounter
persecution despite doing good (v. 13). Opposition should not dismay them; their
calumniators will come to realize their mistake (v. 16).

St Peter’s words of advice have a very positive ring about them; they are really an
application of the beatitude in which our Lord says, “Blessed are you when men
revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my
account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Mt 5:11-12).

St Peter’s teachings have a perennial value for disciples of Christ, for (as history
clearly shows) fidelity to the Master brings with it persecution (cf. Jn 15:18-22; 2
Tim 3:12), sometimes open and violent persecution, sometimes persecution of a
more subtle type, in the form of calumny, humiliation and other hazards.

The counsel St Peter gives is very positive in tone—a kind of application of the
Beatitude which says, “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward is great in heaven” (Mt 15:11-12).

15. “Reverence Christ as Lord”: literally, “Hallow”, as in the Our Father. The
words imply recognition of the divinity of Jesus Christ: he is called Lord (”Kyrios”),
a name proper to God; and they are told to “glorify” or “reverence” him, that is,
render him the worship that is due to God alone. Even in the midst of difficulties
the entire Christian life should be a hymn of praise to God; by acting in this way,
Christians are living out their holy, royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:4-10; cf. Vatican II,
“Presbyterorum Ordinis”, 1).

“To account for the hope that is in you”: he is not referring to defending oneself
before the courts, for official persecution had not yet become widespread in Asia
Minor (cf. note on 2:11-12). He seems, rather, to be referring to the obligation to
bear witness to their faith and hope, for all baptized persons should always, by
word and example, make known their faith known to others.

18-22. This passage may include parts of a Creed used in early Christian baptis-
mal instruction. It very clearly expresses the essence of faith in Jesus Christ, as
preached from the beginning by the Apostles (cf. Acts 2:14-36; 1 Cor 15:1ff) and
as articulated in the Apostles’ Creed “He was crucified, died and was buried. He
descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into
heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.”

Jesus Christ, who suffers for the sins of mankind—”the righteous for the
unrighteous”—and then is glorified, gives meaning to the sufferings of Christians.
“Oh, how great thanks am I bound to return to you for having shown me and all
the faithful the right and good way to your everlasting kingdom! For your life is our
life; and by holy patience we walk on to you, who are our crown. If you had not
gone before and taught us, who would care to follow? Alas, how many would have
stayed afar off and a great way behind if they had not had before their eyes your
wonderful example!” (”The Imitation of Christ”, 3, 18).

18. “Christ has died for sins once for all”: our Lord’s sacrifice is unrepeatable (cf.
Heb 9:12-28; 10:10) and superabundantly sufficient to obtain the remission of all
sins. The fruits of the Cross are applied to man, in a special way, by means of
the sacraments, particularly by taking part in the Mass, the unbloody renewal of
the sacrifice of Calvary.

“Being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit”: there is disagreement
among commentators as to what “flesh” and “spirit” mean here. Some identify
them with our concepts of body and soul—”dead as regards the body, alive as
regards the soul”. Others see them as equivalent to the humanity-divinity of our
Lord: “dead as far as his human nature is concerned, alive (continues to live) as
far as his divinity is concerned”. Finally, having regard to the meaning these terms
have in the Old Testament the phrase may refer to the earthly condition of our Lord
compared with the glorious condition he had after his resurrection; in which case
it would be an early form of words used to convey the idea that Jesus Christ, on
dying, left his mortal condition behind for ever in order to move into his glorious,
immortal state through his resurrection (cf. 1 Cor 15:35-49).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: John 14:15-21

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

Jesus said to His disciples: [15] “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
[16] And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counsellor, to be with
you for ever. [17] even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it neither sees Him nor knows Him; you know Him, for He dwells with you, and will
be in you.

[18] “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. [19] Yet a little while, and
the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live
also. [20] In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in
you. [21] He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me;
and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and manifest
Myself to him.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

15. Genuine love must express itself in deeds. “This indeed is love: obeying and
believing in the loved one” (St. John Chrysostom, “Hom. on St. John”, 74). There-
fore, Jesus wants us to understand that love of God, if it is to be authentic, must
be reflected in a life of generous and faithful self-giving obedient to the Will of God:
he who accepts God’s commandments and obeys them, he it is who loves Him
(cf. John 14:21). St. John himself exhorts us in another passage not to “love in
word or speech but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18), and he teaches us that
“this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3).

16-17. On a number of occasions the Lord promises the Apostles that He will
send them the Holy Spirit (cf. 14:26; 15:36; 16:7-14; Matthew 10:20). Here He
tells them that one result of His mediation with the Father will be the coming of
the Paraclete. The Holy Spirit in fact does come down on the disciples after our
Lord’s ascension (cf. Acts 2:1-13), sent by the Father and by the Son. In
promising here that through Him the father will send them the Holy Spirit, Jesus
is revealing the mystery of the Blessed Trinity.

“Consoler”: the Greek word sometimes anglicized as “paraclete” means etymo-
logically “called to be beside one” to accompany, to console, protect, defend.
Hence the word is translated as Consoler, Advocate, etc. Jesus speaks of the
Holy Spirit as “another Consoler”, because He will be given them in Christ’s place
as Advocate or Defender to help them, since Jesus is going to ascend to Heaven.
In 1 John 2:1 Jesus Christ is described as a Paraclete: “We have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous”. Jesus Christ, then, also is our
Advocate and Mediator in Heaven where He is with the Father (cf. Hebrews 7:25).
It is now the role of the Holy Spirit to guide, protect and vivify the Church, “for there
are, as we know, two factors which Christ has promised and arranged in different
ways to continue His mission [...]: the apostolate and the Spirit. The apostolate
is the external and objective factor, it forms the material body, so to speak, of the
Church and is the source of her visible and social structures. The Holy Spirit acts
internally within each person, as well as on the whole community, animating,
vivifying, sanctifying” (Paul VI, “Opening Address at the Third Session of Vatican
II”, 14 September 1964).

The Holy Spirit is our Consoler as we make our way in this world amid difficulties
and the temptation to feel depressed. “In spite of our great limitations, we can
look up to Heaven with confidence and joy: God loves us and frees us from our
sins. The presence and the action of the Holy Spirit in the Church are a foretaste
of eternal happiness, of the joy and peace for which we are destined by God” (St.
J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 128).

18-20. At various points in the Supper we can see the Apostles growing sad when
the Lord bid them farewell (cf. John 15:16; 16:22). Jesus speaks to them with
great tenderness, calling them “little children” (John 13:33) and “friends” (John
15:15), and He promises that He will not leave them alone, for He will send the
Holy Spirit, and He Himself will return to be with them again. And in fact He will
see them again after the Resurrection when He appears to them over a period of
forty days to tell them about the Kingdom of God (cf. Acts 1:3). When He
ascends into Heaven they will see Him no longer; yet Jesus still continues to be
in the midst of His disciples as He promised He would (cf. Matthew 28:20), and
we will see Him face to face in Heaven. “Then it shall be that we will be able to
see that which we believe. For even now He is with us, and we in Him [...]; but
now we know by believing, whereas then we shall know by beholding.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Regina Coeli

In Latin

In English