You Have A Defender

Readings for Sunday May 29, 2011

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Summary of the Gospel from YM Central

Ever find it difficult to know God’s will, and follow Him faithfully? We often struggle with what it means to love Jesus. Many people think that loving Jesus is only a matter of the heart. They often think that if you are sinning, even gravely sinning, as long as you still love Jesus in your heart, you’re doing ok. For them God is a ‘laid-back’ God. Others think that there is nothing you can do to be ‘ok’ with Christ – we are so sinful and unworthy that even a quick bad thought makes us guilty of Christ’s wrath. For them God is the ‘cranky policeman’. Neither of these views represent the relationship Christ wants us to have with Him. In our Gospel passage, Jesus shows us that loving Him is connected to doing good and keeping His commandments. Therefore, we can never dismiss sin as something external to who we are: Our actions speak louder than words, and if we sin, we are saying by our actions that we are going against God. Sin, of course, can do minor or serious damage to our relationship with Christ. This Gospel also counteracts the viewpoint that says that we are too sinful and unworthy of Christ’s love. This is called scrupulosity, where we scrutinize our actions to the point of becoming guilt-ridden, even over the smallest fault. Christ does not want us to be guilt ridden, but to be free from guilt. He has given us a special gift to help us overcome sin and grow in the freedom that only He can bring. He loves us so much that He promises us an Advocate to be with us always. An advocate is one who stands up for us and defends us. An advocate is one who helps us. The Advocate Jesus is talking about is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that came to the Church at Pentecost. Jesus promises you and me that same Spirit, and the Spirit will literally bring Christ to us. We see in this reading that Jesus is not a God of distance, but a God of intimacy, a God who wants to be united with us in love and close to our hearts. Through our Baptism, God dwells in us as His Temples. The difficult part is our response to Him. Our challenge, then, is to allow God permission to lead us. Our relationship with Him is a two-way street, and the demands placed on us as His ‘Temple’ are great. The heart of these demands is love, and love is not weak. It demands that we are willing to love even to the point of sacrifice. It demands that we put others needs ahead of our own. It demands that we give of ourselves until God calls us home. It demands that we live a life of heroic virtue, even when no one else will. So what are we waiting for? Let’s turn our lives completely over to God, and with total confidence in His care for us, commit ourselves to loving Him above everyone and everything in our lives.


Reading 1 Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. 6 With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice, came out of many possessed people, and many paralyzed or crippled people were cured. 8 There was great joy in that city.
14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, 15 who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Reading 2 1 Peter 3:15-18

15 Beloved: Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, 16 but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.
18 For Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit.

Gospel John 14:15-21

15 Jesus said to his disciples:“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, 17 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. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. 21Whoever 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.”

Questions for Discussion:

1. How would you describe the Holy Spirit to an unbeliever? Why would it be hard for that
person to understand what you are telling them? How do you know what the Holy Spirit is like?

2. What do you suppose is the toughest thing about being an orphan? Why did the disciples
feel like orphans?

3. What are some of the ways in which you show your love for Jesus?

4. Jesus said that Holy Spirit will be in you. How do you sense the Spirit's presence in you?

5. What has Jesus revealed to you about himself?

6. What does Jesus promise to the disciples? Why can’t the world receive this gift?

7. What names for the Holy Spirit are mentioned? What do they mean to you?

8. What do disciples see that the world can’t see? What is the key to knowing Jesus?

9. What does it mean to be in Jesus? What does it mean that Jesus is in us? What does love
have to do with all of this?

10. Jesus says that our faith needs to be characterized by keeping His commandments. What commandments do people struggle keeping today? Why? What would it take to help those people grow in holiness? How can you reach out to them?

11.How can you, as a Christian, show Christ’s love through your actions to the people in your life? Give examples of what you can do to be a better Christian at home, school and work, etc.