Our Johannine Gospel this weekend is one that highlights the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and his gifts given to us and the Church as we continue the Easter celebration of the  central theme of our faith: The Resurrection of the Lord and the gift to you and me of Eternal Life. Recently I had the pleasure to meet Sr. Deirdre Byrne, M.D., a sister of the Little Workers of the  Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and a retired U.S. Army colonel.  At her talk, she spoke of the beauty of God’s love and how He has provided us with all that we need to become “…the man or  woman He created us to be,” to quote St. Catherine of Siena. These words of wisdom resonate with this Sunday’s gospel.  

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear (meaning awesome respect) of the Lord, seven in total. These gifts are believed to be  bestowed upon individuals to help them live out their Christian life and grow their faith. The Holy Spirit, known as the Magisterium of the Church, is also meant to guide the Church and keep her safe from error in her proclamation of the faith to the world.  

In today’s gospel we hear Jesus say: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my  commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”  

Our love for Christ is expressed and seen in the ways we live out our faith—our actions in this world—when we feed the hungry by making a St. Elizabeth meal or a batch of Street Sandwiches, or in our prayerful and financial support of Knights of Malta or Neighbors in Need, and certainly in our support of the young, either in Faith Formation or Youth Ministry, and in the kindness we express each day.  It is the lived expression of what we say we believe (the Creed) or more easily called “Catholic Action.”  

On Easter, we celebrate because Jesus Christ conquered sin and death. But this was not just a past event; it is a living reality. And Jesus continues to be with us through the Holy Spirit—the Advocate who is our guide, our comforter, and our spiritual strength. While we may not see Jesus physically, we certainly know He is present in us by way of the Holy Spirit, this other Advocate, who is present in our hearts and our actions. The promise that Christ continues to make us His likeness and image in our  community around us.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you,” says the Lord. So remember always that in our times of fear, anxiety, loneliness and confusion, especially when the world seems darkest and our country divided, we are never abandoned by the Lord. Rather, in those tough times, receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit anew, and by following His Commandments and loving all peoples as we love ourselves, produce the Fruits of the Holy Spirit—that’s what the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for—and know the Fruits, which are the nine (9) attributes that reflect a life lived in Christ: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…all good things of which the world could use more.  Happy Easter and eternally beyond!