Holy Spirit Promises II

The speaker is discussing the Feast of Pentecost and reflecting on the five promises of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John. The second promise is about the Holy Spirit teaching and reminding the disciples of Jesus' teachings. The relationship between the teaching of Jesus and the Holy Spirit is described as a mutual interiority. The Holy Spirit helps disciples understand and apply Jesus' teachings in their daily lives. The Holy Spirit is also described as the how of Revelation, making Jesus' teachings accessible and meaningful. These promises are spoken to the community of disciples, and it is through the Holy Spirit that the Church can fully understand and live out the teachings of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is described as the fire that ignites our imaginations and brings the truth of Jesus alive in our lives. The speaker encourages the listeners to meditate on this promise and ask Jesus to reveal His faithfulness in bringing it to life. Greetings, friends. What a joy to share the Gospel. In preparing for the Church's celebration of the Feast of Pentecost on the last Sunday of Easter, we have begun to reflect together on what are commonly called the five paraclete or Holy Spirit promises in St. John's Gospel. First, let's take a moment to prepare our hearts to yield to the Gospel promise by quieting our inner selves. If you will, take a deep breath slowly in and slowly out. Come Lord Jesus. Allow your Holy Spirit to bring your word to life in me. May I hear your voice, good Shepherd. Turn with me now to the second promise of Jesus concerning the paraclete from the Gospel of St. John. That promise is found in John chapter 14 verses 25 and 26. Jesus said to his disciples, I have told you this while I am with you. The paraclete, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Father Ignace de la Poterie points out, quote, this text concentrates the attention directly on the nature of the mysterious rapport or relationship that unites the teaching of the Spirit and that of Jesus, close quote. At first sight it might appear that there are two distinct actions taken by the Holy Spirit. First, the Holy Spirit will teach and second, the Holy Spirit will recall to the minds of the disciples the teaching of Jesus. The question this raises is whether it is right to expect some new teaching from the Holy Spirit. Does the Holy Spirit have his own unique teaching to accomplish? Throughout the Gospel of John, what one discovers is that there exists a mutual interiority to the work of the Father and the Son. Wherever the Son is, there is the Father as well. One cannot know the Father without knowing the Son. One cannot know the Son without knowing the Father. St. John reveals here that this same relationship of mutual interiority exists between the Holy Spirit and that of the teaching of Christ. This is to say that it is precisely by recalling the words of Jesus to the minds of the disciples that the Spirit teaches them everything. To help to understand this relationship between the teaching of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the Greek theologian Nikos Nisotis offers a helpful distinction. Nisotis speaks of Jesus as the what of Revelation while the Spirit is the how of Revelation. Now follow me on this. The content of Christian doctrine is contained in the life and person of Jesus. He is the what. The Holy Spirit gives disciples access or a way into that teaching in the here and now. He is the how. In short, the Holy Spirit is, as Father Killian MacDonald says, the how by which the what is effected in history. Let me try to make this more concrete. Imagine yourself in a classroom being taught some algebraic formula. Your teacher is effective, speaks clearly, and goes through the formula slowly and patiently. At this point it is not that the teacher is unclear or that you don't understand what he is saying, but you still do not see the point of the formula or understand how it works. You haven't connected with it. You listen to the lesson and you work with the formula. You yield to it, you might say. At a certain point, suddenly, the formula makes sense. You grasp the inherent logic of it and see how it effectively works to bring you to a conclusion. This, you might say, is the ah-ha moment, ah-ha, now I got it. You understand this formula for yourself. You can take your own concrete problem, apply the formula, and reach the information the formula opens up to you. Now the Holy Spirit plays just this ah-ha role in communicating the teaching of Jesus Christ. Jesus' life, death, and resurrection communicates the truth of God and who we are in relationship to God. The role of the Holy Spirit is to make this a knowledge internal to us and to our experience within our daily lives. The Holy Spirit makes the truth of Jesus Christ accessible to us in the concrete of our daily lives so that we can increasingly live our lives in the light of that truth. The Holy Spirit is how we come to know the truth of Jesus for us in the here and now. Before concluding, I would like to make one more point concerning this promise, which applies equally to each of the promises concerning the Holy Spirit. It is important to notice that these promises are spoken not to disciples individually, but to the company of disciples. It is from within the Church, the body of disciples of Jesus existing throughout history, that the Spirit acts to bring believers to a living knowledge of Jesus Christ and His teaching. In this promise we see, according to Fr. Ignace de la Poterie, that Christ remains the unique revelation, but only the action of the Spirit allows the Church to appropriate in faith that unique revelation. The wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit is to make the truth of Jesus alive and active in our lives today. The Holy Spirit is the fire that ignites our imaginations to everything Jesus is, does, and teaches. Once again, let us read from John chapter 14, verses 25 and 26. Jesus said to His disciples, I have told you this while I am with you. The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name, He will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. And again, let me encourage you to sit with this promise for the week ahead. Proclaim it peacefully within your spirits. Ask Jesus, through His Holy Spirit, to reveal His faithfulness to bringing this promise to life in you. And friends, it is a joy to share the Gospel with you.