6th Easter Sunday (year A)

(John 14:15-21)

John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 14:16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever,

John 14:17 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.

John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:19 A little while longer and the world will no longer see me; but you will see me, because I live and you will live.

John 14:20 On that day you will know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you.

John 14:21 Whoever receives my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and reveal myself to him.

Love comes first, and then the keeping of the commandments. One loves Christ, and for this reason one keeps the commandments. Love for Christ is an overwhelming force. When this force is in the heart, one is even capable of martyrdom. If we allow ourselves to be taken by the love of Christ, in this love we will rediscover love for ourselves, and in rediscovering love for ourselves we will also rediscover the right love for others. Whoever does not allow themselves to be won over by the love of Christ will never be able to keep his commandments. The commandments in themselves are an obligation, a duty, a burden. But through the love of Jesus, the commandments are transformed into a desire, into a will. We give our lives to Jesus so that Jesus may love through us. But who can create in us the love for Christ and thus the love to fulfil his will?

If we wish to love Jesus, if we ask him to become our very life, he comes to our aid and fulfils our desire. How? Jesus will pray to the Father, and the Father will give us another Paraclete, so that he may remain with us always. The Paraclete is the Advocate, but also the Teacher, the Helper, the Support, the Inspirer, the Guide, the One who takes us by the hand and leads us to Christ, so that in Christ, with Christ, through Christ, we may have access to the Father. The Paraclete is the ‘fruit’ of the prayer of Jesus Christ. The Father gives him to all who love Christ and keep his commandments. 

The Holy Spirit is given through the sacraments. He acts in the sacraments. He regenerates us and makes us children in the Son. He makes us witnesses of Christ. He consecrates us and makes us priests of Christ. Through the Holy Spirit acting within him, the priest forgives sins and transforms a piece of bread and a few drops of wine into the Body and Blood of Christ the Lord. The Holy Spirit acts – as was once taught – “Ex opere operato non ex opera operantis”. This teaching is true. Otherwise, we would have no certainty regarding the validity of any sacrament. One thing that is rarely taught, however, is this: conversion, the drawing to Christ, and the sanctification of people take place through the Holy Spirit acting within the Christian, whoever they may be – a lay faithful or a priest. The love of Christ living within the Christian becomes and is transformed in them into the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit draws them to Christ, converts them to Him, conforms them to Him, and makes them like Him. The stronger the love of Christ within us, the greater is the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us.

The Paraclete Spirit is the Spirit of truth. In the Spirit we know the truth of the Father and the truth of the Son. The Spirit is also our truth. If we are in the Holy Spirit, we know one another. If we are not in the Spirit, we will never be able to know one another. But why can the world not receive the Spirit of truth? Because the world is under the power of the prince of this world, who is a spirit of deception and falsehood. Those who live in the world must first leave the world behind. Having abandoned the world and allowed themselves to be seized by Christ, they love Christ, observe his commandments, and receive the Spirit of truth. What happened on the day of Pentecost must happen every day.

For us, receiving the Holy Spirit does not require leaving the world. A mere two or three years of attending catechism classes is enough. A rational education in the truths of our holy faith is enough. This is utter folly. If one does not leave the world, one does not receive the Spirit! The Spirit does not work in those who remain in the world; He works in those who leave the world. The Christian is called to leave the world, that is, to leave sin, lies, falsehood and idols. Conversion from idols to God is an indispensable condition for the Holy Spirit to act and work in us and through us.

Being in darkness, the world neither sees nor knows the Spirit of truth. The disciples will know the Holy Spirit because the Spirit will remain with them and be within them. The Holy Spirit will be the soul of their soul, the heart of their heart, the spirit of their spirit, the feeling of their feelings, the will of their will, the thought of their thoughts. They will know Him because He will dwell within them, abide in them, and make Himself known to them. Knowledge of the Holy Spirit does not come about through rational means. Rather, it comes through the spiritual transformation of our entire life. Only He can bring about this transformation. 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers – Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ, True God and True Man in the Trinitarian Mystery

The Prophetic Discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24–25)

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

Catholics and Protestants Compared – In Defence of the Faith

The Church and Israel According to St Paul – Romans 9–11

(Available on Amazon)