Trust in the Holy Spirit

This is a computer-generated transcription that has been included to make the homily searchable.  It has not been verified by the author.

“I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” So, this is our Lord speaking on the night before He is about to enter into His passion, and as His life is ending, He’s still saying there’s a lot more that I would need to tell you, but you’re not ready for it. And so normally, that would be a pretty terrible situation for someone who’s trying to prepare disciples and realizing that right at His death, they’re still not ready for it. But that’s the difference we were talking about this last week. That’s the difference between Jesus and a mere human founder, that Jesus is not limited to what He can do in His short earthly life, which is the situation most human founders that they teach, and then maybe they leave some books, or something like that, some writings. But our Lord can do much more than that. He is going to send His Holy Spirit, who will continue His mission. And we celebrated that last week, the grace of the Holy Spirit. And so this, I think, the readings that Our Lord has given in these last Sundays and also in the Sundays to come are very providential for what’s happening right now in the Church, with right now, for instance, with the election of Leo, there’s a lot a lot of questions. And I think these, as I say, these readings that we’ve been having are very providential to help us understand. And so here, our Lord is talking about the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit continues the work of Jesus, and that is key, because I was saying this last week, that a lot of times it seems like there’s the idea of the Church as like a human institution, where Jesus founded the Church, and then He died, He left, He rose again, and He left. And now it’s up to us to do everything. And certainly, Jesus did give responsibilities, but He continues to be the head of the Church, and He continues to guide it by His Holy Spirit. So, what will the Holy Spirit do? So, our Lord speaks to that in the Gospel we just heard. He says, “He will teach you all things.” So, Jesus has just said that there’s a lot more that He would like to teach them, but they’re not ready for it yet. But He says, The Holy Spirit will teach them all things, things that Jesus was not able to teach them here on earth. And He says, “and He will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” So, He’s not bringing to them a new gospel. He’s bringing to their minds again with a deeper understanding what Jesus taught them. And then Jesus says, “He will guide you into all the truth.” So, the apostles didn’t yet have that deeper understanding. But He says, “the Holy Spirit will guide them into all truth.” So, this is the Holy Spirit’s work, to continue to guide the apostles and to guide the whole Church, not into a new truth, but into a deeper understanding of the truth that Jesus was revealing. And He says, “and He will declare to you the things that are to come.” So not just will He remind you of what Jesus said, but He will now reveal to them the things that are coming. And so here we see this prophetic action of the Holy Spirit. We see it already in Scripture, when already in the Gospel, for instance, and especially in the book of Revelation. But it continues throughout the Church. This prophetic work continues throughout the Church. We’ve often spoken of that, and our little community has, I think, I think that’s one of the things the Lord has called us to, is to be open to the Lord, the Holy Spirit, continuing to guide us, as Jesus says, to reveal, to declare the things that are coming. And so, this is this work of the Holy Spirit. And so who is Jesus speaking to as He says this, when He says you? Obviously speaking to the apostles, but we believe He’s also speaking to their successors, the successors of the apostles, the bishops and the Pope. And in a certain sense, He’s speaking to all the Church, and that when He speaks of this action of the Holy Spirit. So, how does the Holy Spirit do this? How does the Holy Spirit guide the Church? And so, there’s different ways that He does One of the key ways of course, is precisely through the apostles and the magisterium. The hierarchy, they have this important role of teaching, also being good shepherds who guide and govern the Church and who sanctify it by the sacraments. And not all members of the hierarchy, unfortunately, are good examples of that. But I think, for instance, in someone like Bishop Strickland, we see a shining example in our time. But what about if the role of the pastors is temporarily usurped? That’s something that the messages that we’ve published have spoken of, that usurpation in the Church. What happens then? Is the Church then without any guidance by the Holy Spirit? And so, it’s important to have faith – Sacred Scripture and sacred tradition, so we have that foundation, and He also, the Holy Spirit has given the Church throughout its history Saints, has inspired saints, the saints of the Church’s history, and the saints that He is raising up today to help guide the Church, and sometimes they’ve played very important roles. For instance, that one critical, critical crisis in the Church when it wasn’t clear who was the true Pope, and where should the pope be. There was the Lord that the Holy Spirit, raise up saints like Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Bridget of Sweden, to speak to the Church and to help guide, call the pastors back. And so also the Holy Spirit, as Saint Paul has said, the Church is a body, and in this body, there are many parts, and each part has its own, its own special mission, its own spiritual graces. We call them charisms. And so, there’s not just the grace that He gives to the pastors of the Church, but there’s many other charisms that He gives. And precisely when, St Paul says the Lord has given the Church, first apostles, then prophets, then teachers, and so forth. But he mentions, in second place, the prophets, the role of the prophets. And in our creed, it says the Holy Spirit has spoken through the prophets. And in times in which the hierarchy of the Church is in crisis, there’s even more need for this grace of prophets. And I mentioned those examples, like Catherine of Siena, or Bridget of Sweden. And I think this is why I’ve often said that this is a role in the Church which has been too often neglected, has been too often kind of rejected. And that’s, I think, one of the key things, as I say, that the Lord is asking our little Mission of Divine Mercy to recall that need. So, in the Church, there’s also all the different graces, prophetic and all the other types of charisms that He gives, that the Holy Spirit gives. And also, there is what’s called the Sensus fidelium, the sense of the faith and of the faithful, that the Lord through Baptism and Confirmation, when Catholics are truly trying to be faithful to the Lord, then there’s also a grace given to them, given to the whole body of the Church to help. And sometimes, like when during the Arian crisis, there was a great Bishop, like St Athanasius, but during the crisis, the faithful were more faithful than the hierarchy. And so that’s another way that the Holy Spirit helps guide the church, is through the gift of faith that He gives to all the faithful. And so, the key point I want to make here is that even if there is a temporary usurpation of the hierarchy, in the hierarchy, and I think that’s what the messages are that the Lord has shared with us, are saying, that’s a terrible thing. It’s a betrayal, and it brings about, like a death in the Church. We’ve been talking a lot about, that it’s the Church following the Passion of Jesus; and the Passion of Jesus in the same way that the Lord can permit, for a time, for the human shepherds, many of them to fail, but even in something a terrible crisis like that, we know that if it happens, it’s permitted by God, just like the Passion of Our Lord was permitted by God. And so, it’s all in His hands, all in the hands of divine providence. And just like His passion, that terrible crisis, that terrible darkness, is temporary. It’s not the end, it’s a terrible but temporary crisis, trial, death, but which will lead to a great victory, and the Holy Spirit is in control. The Holy Spirit does not abandon the Church. If the human shepherds can fail, if they can be unfaithful, if they can even betray – the Holy Spirit, will never fail, He will never betray, He will never abandon. He will lead us through this crisis in ways that only He knows. We don’t know how this is going to happen, but He does. So, that’s a key point that in this crisis in the Church, where if the human leaders fail, the Holy Spirit does not fail. But how can we know it’s the Holy Spirit? How do we know it’s truly the Holy Spirit? And the readings today also give us the sign, it’s always Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is always the Spirit of Jesus. Jesus said in the Gospel today, He says, “The Holy Spirit will glorify Me”, the false spirits, that, because there’s a lot of spirits who are not of God, but they seem very spiritual, they’re very seductive, but that the Holy Spirit always glorifies Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit always calls us to recognize and adore Jesus as the only begotten Son of God, our only Lord and Savior. And our Lord goes on to say, “He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” He will take what is mine. The Holy Spirit is never inventing a new gospel. He’s never replacing the gospel of Jesus. He’s never saying, well, that was what Jesus said. But now I’m going to give you a better gospel, a more enlightened gospel, like we hear, like in a new age. No, the Holy Spirit is always the Spirit of Jesus, always bringing what is of Jesus Christ His gospel and leading us to a deeper understanding of the gospel of Jesus. He’s always communicating Jesus. He’s always leading us to fidelity to Jesus Christ. And so, Jesus goes on to say, “He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak.” And Jesus Christ says something similar, that Jesus says that he’s not speaking on His own authority. He’s only communicating what the Father called Him to communicate. So, Jesus and the Holy Spirit all are giving the same message, which is not coming from them, it’s coming from the Father Himself. And so, Jesus says, “All that the Father has is Mine. Therefore, I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.” The Father gives everything to his son through the Holy Spirit, and everything that the Son has, come from the Father. And so, the Father gives it to Jesus, and Jesus communicates it to us through His Holy Spirit. And so, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, is always coming from and leading us to the Father. St Paul says, and this is on this feast of the Trinity. We listen to these words of St Paul to the Galatians, “because you are sons. God has sent the Spirit of His sons into our hearts, crying.” And so it’s very interesting, what is the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, what is He crying out in our hearts? It’s not a long, complicated formula. It’s one word, Abba. Here, St Paul says Abba, Father, but father just means Abba. So, it’s one word. So what the Holy Spirit leads us to cry out is so simple, so childlike, so fundamental, Abba, Father. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit as of the Son. And what makes Jesus the Son? He wouldn’t be the Son without the Father. He’s the Son because He has His Father. It’s the Father who makes Him the Son. So, the Holy Spirit brings us the treasure of the son, of Jesus the Son, and the treasure of the Son, that’s what when He says, “He makes us cry out. Abba. What does that mean? He leads us, He gives us the privilege, the ability to enter into communion as children of God, children of the Father, children, sons and daughters in Jesus the Son, so that we, also as Jesus, can experience and live and be united to the love of the Father. And so, on this feast of the Trinity, the Feast of the greatest of all mysteries. And today, in its providential as Mother Magdelene said that we’re celebrating it when in our country it is Father’s Day. And so, this Father’s Day is an opportunity for us as Catholics to give thanks to the Lord for the men who are called with the grace of the Holy Spirit, of the Son of God to represent God the Father, represent the loving, powerful, wise fatherhood of God. So, in conclusion, we remember these words of our Lord, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” So, with our Blessed Mother in this great trial that the Church is going through, we don’t give in to despair, to discouragement, but we place our trust in the Holy Spirit, who never abandons the Church, especially in the most difficult moments. And I’ll end with this passage again, this passage of St Paul – “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Amen.

KEYWORDS / PHRASES:
John 16:12-15