Pentecost 6/4/06
by Fr.Gus Carter

At the Last Supper in John's Gospel Jesus promises to send another advocate, the Holy Spirit. An advocate is someone who pleads our cause. Remember St. Paul said, "The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings." Groaning expresses God's desire for our good. Jesus promised that this Spirit, the love of God, would always be with us. 'The Spirit of truth. " Jesus said, " will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you." Whenever we take up the Gospel and read it prayerfully, the Holy Spirit of Jesus is with us. The Spirit touches our minds and hearts to teach us the meaning and ways of Jesus. The Spirit encourages us to act on this knowledge.

I have mentioned before the statement of the French Catholic philosopher, Gabriel Marcel, "It is impossible to believe in God, it is impossible not to believe in God." When we see the violence, hatred and greed in the world, we say, "How could a good God have created such a universe?" We say this especially when we have been personally affected by these deadly sins. The absurdity of the world at times makes it hard to believe in a good God. Yet on a bright day standing before a scene of great natural beauty, we say, "There has to be a good God." Long ago a football coach I worked with said, "When my first child was born, I knew there was a God."

The Holy Spirit teaches us that Jesus is "good news." The Epistle to Titus declares that in Jesus Christ "the kindness and generous love of God has appeared." If at times it seems hard to believe in a good God, Jesus words and actions assure us that ultimately good will prevail in our lives. Encountering the extraordinary good of Jesus produces joy and gratitude. This causes us to seek to know Jesus Christ. Through him we become aware of the magnificent goodness that surrounds us.

We also know that Jesus teaches us how to be authentically human. Jesus himself is "good news." He shows us how to carry out the plan God made to bring goodness, forgiveness and salvation to the world. Humans have a sense that there is a tremendous but mysterious goodness behind all that exists. People liked the ideas in "Star Wars" of calling this mysterious presence "the Force." Jesus has told us that we can encounter this mysterious goodness in the universe and call that Mystery "Father." or "Abba." The power of goodness behind the universe is a person who seeks an intimate relationship with each human. The whole of our Scriptures tells of encounters with the Mystery of Life who loves us and who has created us to share in eternal love. Jesus Christ is the ultimate revelation of our God's good intentions toward all humanity. The Holy Spirit enlightens our minds and hearts to keep a fresh outlook on all the wonders that tell us of a gracious God. Jesus himself at the beginning of his ministry declared, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ... to bring glad tidings to the poor.! He sent me to proclaim liberty to captives/ and recovery of sight to the blind! let the oppressed go free.

Jesus demonstrated how we should live so that we will continue to carry out His mission. The Holy Spirit inspires us to understand Jesus ways and gives us the courage and strength to carry on what he did. The more we follow Jesus, the more the depths of our minds and hearts approve of what we are doing.

On a number of occasions I have mentioned the fruits of the Spirit. If we follow the Spirit's lead in being like Jesus, St. Paul said that we will enjoy love, peace patience, kindness, self-control. The Spirit points out to us the many ways in which the Father shows divine love and care for us. Too often writing about saints in the past authors have stressed the sufferings of these holy people. The great autobiographies of Saints Augustine, both Teresas and the Fioretti of St. Francis reveal the joyous lives that result from being led by the Spirit. Following Jesus enables us to live the depths of our deepest desires. We must pray for the grace not to miss the fabulous opportunities available to those who follow Jesus.