Most Holy Trinity Sunday Year A - 7/6/2020 - Gospel: Jn 3: 16-18
Celebrating our Joy
(John 14,15-21)
Personal achievement brings great joy. It comes, not before, but after years of training and discipline. Sometimes, we are proud of our relatives and friends, and countrymen for their achievements, and we share their joy. As a member of the faith community, we share and bear with one another in their successes and failures. Jesus is our head, our leader. He is the source of our joy. He alone suffered, and we all benefitted from his triumph over sin and death. We are grateful to have The Paraclete. Without Jesus we don't even know The paraclete exists. Jesus asked the Father to send us The Paraclete, the Advocate to be with us always. Interestingly, The Paraclete is in the world, and yet the world neither sees nor knows her, because it is the special gift, Jesus has given to those who love Him by keeping his commandment of love.
On the cross, before dying Jesus said 'Father into your hands I commit my Spirit'. At that time people interpreted his death as a sign of failure, of subjection to the Romans' power. Jesus publicly said to the Romans and his opponents, that he allowed them to nail his physical body to the cross; but they had no power over his Spirit. His Spirit was free, and now it returned to the Father. In that sense his death was not the sign of failure, but rather, Jesus' triumphant proclamation began at the cross. After the resurrection Jesus stayed with his apostles for forty days to strengthen their faith in him, before ascending to the Father. The earth is full of God's Spirit. Apart from the spirit at the creation, which hovered over the water, we knew the spirit which was with Jesus during his time on earth; we then have the spirit of his resurrection, and lastly the promise of the Spirit, The Paraclete to be with God's Church on earth till the end of time. After departing from this world, Jesus sent The Paraclete to be with the apostles and with us. The Paraclete would not take the place of Jesus, but She continues to deepen the work of Jesus. The Paraclete makes Jesus' teaching alive in the hearts of all believers. She keeps breathing the Church's mission and she continues renewing God's new creation. Jesus' departure from this earth was good news for us all. First, He fulfilled the promise to be with us in a new way. Second, The Paraclete will teach and remind us of Jesus' teaching; She becomes our strength and our guide on our pilgrimage to God's house. We have never seen Jesus, but are not as disadvantaged as the first generation of believers. Through The Paraclete we learn to love Jesus, and those who love Jesus will be loved by the Father. 'Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them' Jn 14,21. The Paraclete helps us to love Jesus, and the Father who is in Jesus will come to us and make His home in us. The God whom we worship is not far away, out there, but He is close to our heart, at home in us. Our faith in Jesus is a living faith. His teaching is not a history book, but through The Paraclete, his teaching is alive in our heart, and it is manifested through acts of charity and acts of love, mercy and forgiveness. By doing these we are united with Jesus, with the Father and with The Paraclete.
Personal achievement brings great joy. It comes, not before, but after years of training and discipline. Sometimes, we are proud of our relatives and friends, and countrymen for their achievements, and we share their joy. As a member of the faith community, we share and bear with one another in their successes and failures. Jesus is our head, our leader. He is the source of our joy. He alone suffered, and we all benefitted from his triumph over sin and death. We are grateful to have The Paraclete. Without Jesus we don't even know The paraclete exists. Jesus asked the Father to send us The Paraclete, the Advocate to be with us always. Interestingly, The Paraclete is in the world, and yet the world neither sees nor knows her, because it is the special gift, Jesus has given to those who love Him by keeping his commandment of love.
On the cross, before dying Jesus said 'Father into your hands I commit my Spirit'. At that time people interpreted his death as a sign of failure, of subjection to the Romans' power. Jesus publicly said to the Romans and his opponents, that he allowed them to nail his physical body to the cross; but they had no power over his Spirit. His Spirit was free, and now it returned to the Father. In that sense his death was not the sign of failure, but rather, Jesus' triumphant proclamation began at the cross. After the resurrection Jesus stayed with his apostles for forty days to strengthen their faith in him, before ascending to the Father. The earth is full of God's Spirit. Apart from the spirit at the creation, which hovered over the water, we knew the spirit which was with Jesus during his time on earth; we then have the spirit of his resurrection, and lastly the promise of the Spirit, The Paraclete to be with God's Church on earth till the end of time. After departing from this world, Jesus sent The Paraclete to be with the apostles and with us. The Paraclete would not take the place of Jesus, but She continues to deepen the work of Jesus. The Paraclete makes Jesus' teaching alive in the hearts of all believers. She keeps breathing the Church's mission and she continues renewing God's new creation. Jesus' departure from this earth was good news for us all. First, He fulfilled the promise to be with us in a new way. Second, The Paraclete will teach and remind us of Jesus' teaching; She becomes our strength and our guide on our pilgrimage to God's house. We have never seen Jesus, but are not as disadvantaged as the first generation of believers. Through The Paraclete we learn to love Jesus, and those who love Jesus will be loved by the Father. 'Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them' Jn 14,21. The Paraclete helps us to love Jesus, and the Father who is in Jesus will come to us and make His home in us. The God whom we worship is not far away, out there, but He is close to our heart, at home in us. Our faith in Jesus is a living faith. His teaching is not a history book, but through The Paraclete, his teaching is alive in our heart, and it is manifested through acts of charity and acts of love, mercy and forgiveness. By doing these we are united with Jesus, with the Father and with The Paraclete.
Written by Fr Vũđình Tường
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
