OUR ADVOCATE IN FRONT OF TRIALS.

May 23, 2021
Pentecost Sunday - B.

Readings: Acts 2:1-11; Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; Gal 5:16-25; Jn 20:19-23.

A Danish proverb says, “Woe be to him whose advocate becomes his accuser.” And a Jewish proverb adds, “A man without a woman cannot defend himself against seductions.”

We are used to hearing and to say that life is a trial. In that continual trial, if we are left without an advocate to defend our case, we are at loss. For, we will never find the right words at the right moment to present our defense. In our daily life, many are the things we go through that are always beyond our control. We cannot pretend to become good by ourselves. We cannot seek and attend holiness by ourselves. We cannot reach wisdom by ourselves. In all that we do, we need support; not only human support but a spiritual grace that will always be at work in us. The coming of the Holy Spirit reminds us of this truth. Through its many gifts, the Spirit of God continually renews our lives, the life of the Church, and the face of the world.

Today, we are showered by the Spirit of God, the Advocate. For, says the Catechism, “On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ's Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance.” CCC. 731.

After the events of the Passion and death of the Lord, the disciples were filled with sundry feelings and emotions: fears, disappointment, discouragement, disillusionment... Though they heard of the Lord’s Resurrection and even got many visions and signs that he was alive, he was no longer present with them as he used to be before those days and events. The Resurrection brought them great joys but fear was still the companion of their new life. Therefore, they chose to close themselves in prayer and in one place. The event of the Pentecost will mark a new beginning for them. The Holy Spirit came, invaded their lives, and took them out from their comfort zone of the Cenacle to bring them to encounter other people and witness to their faith.

Through this singular experience of the group of disciples, we discover one of the greatest missions of the Holy Spirit. He is a Spirit of courage and comforter opening to the mission “Ad Gentes”. Before the reception of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the disciples were focused only on the mission “Ad Intra”, that is, the mission among themselves, made of prayer, fraternal sharing, concern for each other as members of the same group. But the Lord wanted them for more than that. The Christian life does not limit to the “Ad Intra” only. We are urged to go out towards others, to get out of our comfort zones, out of the sacristies, and to reach the peripheries where man battles for his daily existence.

The work of the Holy Spirit is to make of us missionaries of the Good News, missionaries of the kingdom of God, a Kingdom that comes to renew our earthly kingdoms. We sang with the psalmist, “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.” We live on an earth completely disfigured by so many crises; political, economic, social, as well as sanitary. Men have lost the real meaning of unity, love, peace, and compassion. Everyone seems to fight for himself. People do no longer live but, survive. We are like survivors on this earth. That means, one is able to do all he can to protect himself and his personal and egoistic interests, otherwise, no one is going to do it for him. As survivor, the best way to be safe is to protect oneself from others. Confinement, social distancing, isolation, no-touch, face mask... These are the new norms, giving birth to a "new normal". The coming of the Advocate will break down all these barriers erected in norms and open us to the norm of God, love.

We hear from the first reading that the disciples of the Lord, after receiving the Spirit went out from the Cenacle and spoke fearlessly to people in the many possible languages, and all were capable of hearing and understanding them to speak in his own language. That came so because they spoke a unique language, the language of love expressed in many dialects and lexes. There was no need for translation. For, love does not need a translation. It rather brings to a fruitful life.

In the second reading, St. Paul emphasizes the fruits of the Holy Spirit that are fruits of love. It is interesting to pay attention to the list the Apostle gives. He makes a perfect contrast between the fruits of the flesh and those of the Spirit. The flesh produces, “immorality, impurity, lust, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.” The Spirit, on contrary, bears fruits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

We are children of God, so children of his Spirit. What God expects from us is to live according to the dictate of that Holy Spirit. Regrettably, we live in a world that has become rude and rude, and where many of us have grown ruthless and immoral. All that St. Paul has called the fruits of the flesh, that is exactly what is cooked and served as daily meals at the banquet of this life. All kinds of sexual irresponsibility, idolatry, sorcery, feuds, gross indecency... Our world talks of homosexuality and same-sex relationship and put it in balance to a heterosexual relationship that leads marriage. Marriage is even claimed for homosexuals. Undisputable, no one must be disregarded because of his sexual orientation... But will not all these liberties and freedom we face today lead to sadder freedom like the freedom to hate, freedom to kill, freedom to choose one’s sex…? What then becomes God in front of our so many freedoms?

The Pentecost sounds like the time of a new wind blowing in our world to change the face of the world. The Spirit of Pentecost comes for renewal. Let us, therefore, open ourselves to that regeneration and make the change possible for ourselves and others. It is time for a regain of ethics and morals in the world. May we quit from all that is immoral and inhuman and embrace the way of righteousness, with the assurance that we will not be alone in that process. For, we have an Advocate, the Spirit of life and love. May we not live in a way that the Spirit could accuse us instead of defending us.