22 May 2017
Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter
In our Gospel reading today, we continue to hear Jesus’s promise of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called the “advocate” which translates the Greek word παράκλητος (or, paraclete in English). The word advocate has many connotations to it: the intercessor who speaks for another in a court of law, the one who encourages, or the one who comforts.
It is fitting that the word advocate carries a few different translations in order to capture the ways we experience the Holy Spirit. We feel the Spirit as the one who speaks on behalf of us. The Spirit gives us interior strength and courage when faced with a difficult decision. The Spirit comes to us when we fail so as to remind us that we can do nothing to make God love us less.
The Holy Spirit is often someone I experience through others’ actions or words. We all have had someone in our lives who has encouraged us to strive to be ourselves, and to be a moral and just individual. I have provided an inventory of different types of individuals who carry the Holy Spirit to us. As you read the list, thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit that comes to us from others, either in the past or in the present.
For Parents or Guardians,
For Siblings,
For Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Grandparents,
For Children,
For Co-Workers and Colleagues,
For Doctors and Nurses,
For Coaches,
For Teachers,
For Counselors and Therapists,
For Mentors and Advisors,
For Pastors and Pastoral Leaders,
For Friends,
For specific others in your life . . . Amen.