From: John 16:12-15

The Action of the Holy Spirit (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [12] “I have yet many things to say to you, but you
cannot bear them now. [13] When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you in-
to all the truth; for He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears
He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. [14] He
will glorify Me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you. [15] All that
the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and de-
clare it to you.”

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Commentary:

13. It is the Holy Spirit who makes fully understood the truth revealed by Christ.
As Vatican II teaches, our Lord “completed and perfected Revelation and con-
firmed it...finally by sending the Spirit of truth” (Vatican II, “Dei Verbum”, 4). Cf.
note on John 14:25-26.

14-15. Jesus Christ here reveals some aspects of the mystery of the Blessed
Trinity. He teaches that the Three Divine Persons have the same nature when
He says that everything that the Father has belongs to the Son, and everything
the Son has belongs to the Father (cf. John 17:10) and that the Spirit also has
what is common to the Father and the Son, that is, the divine essence. The ac-
tivity specific to the Holy Spirit is that of glorifying Christ, reminding and clarify-
ing for the disciples everything the Master taught them (John 16:13). On being
inspired by the Holy Spirit to recognize the Father through the Son, men render
glory to Christ; and glorifying Christ is the same as giving glory to God (cf. John
17:1, 3-5, 10).

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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.

Readings at Mass

First reading	Proverbs 8:22-31 ©

The Wisdom of God cries aloud:

The Lord created me when his purpose first unfolded,

before the oldest of his works.

From everlasting I was firmly set,

from the beginning, before earth came into being.

The deep was not, when I was born,

there were no springs to gush with water.

Before the mountains were settled,

before the hills, I came to birth;

before he made the earth, the countryside,

or the first grains of the world’s dust.

When he fixed the heavens firm, I was there,

when he drew a ring on the surface of the deep,

when he thickened the clouds above,

when he fixed fast the springs of the deep,

when he assigned the sea its boundaries

– and the waters will not invade the shore –

when he laid down the foundations of the earth,

I was by his side, a master craftsman,

delighting him day after day,

ever at play in his presence,

at play everywhere in his world,

delighting to be with the sons of men.

Psalm	Psalm 8:4-9 ©

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,

the moon and the stars which you arranged,

what is man that you should keep him in mind,

mortal man that you care for him?

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

Yet you have made him little less than a god;

with glory and honour you crowned him,

gave him power over the works of your hand,

put all things under his feet.

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

All of them, sheep and cattle,

yes, even the savage beasts,

birds of the air, and fish

that make their way through the waters.

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

Second reading	Romans 5:1-5 ©

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith we are judged righteous and at peace with God, since it is by faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of grace in which we can boast about looking forward to God’s glory. But that is not all we can boast about; we can boast about our sufferings. These sufferings bring patience, as we know, and patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope, and this hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us.

Gospel Acclamation	cf.Rv1:8

Alleluia, alleluia!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;

the God who is, who was, and who is to come.

Alleluia!

Gospel	John 16:12-15 ©

Jesus said:

‘I still have many things to say to you

but they would be too much for you now.

But when the Spirit of truth comes

he will lead you to the complete truth,

since he will not be speaking as from himself

but will say only what he has learnt;

and he will tell you of the things to come.

He will glorify me,

since all he tells you

will be taken from what is mine.

Everything the Father has is mine;

that is why I said:

All he tells you

will be taken from what is mine.’