Hi All,
Updates:
1. I celebrated Mass today for all of you, the parishioners, and for all the victims of abuse and for those who commit it (by Rosemary Brown).
2. The bishop is continuing his planning sessions with some doctors, priests, deacons, and laypeople to craft the policies to use as we open up our churches. The most likely start will be opening up in early June at a certain percentage of the capacity of the building.
Reflection
(http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051820.cfm)
In the passage from the Gospel of John read today, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Advocate. It gives us a glimpse into the role and character of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who advocates, who "defends our cause." St. John is contrasting the Holy Spirit with the devil, the spirit of evil. The devil, or Satan, is called the accuser. So we have the accuser on the one hand, and the advocate on the other.
The picture being drawn by these words is the picture of a court house. The accuser, the prosecutor, is on the one hand. He is the one who accuses, who aims at the guilty verdict. On the other hand is the advocate, the defense lawyer, the one who "defends our cause." Advocate, in the ancient languages, simply was the word used for the defense lawyer. So St. John is deliberately calling to mind this role of the Holy Spirit in defending or pleading our cause against the accuser.
That defense is so crucial, isn't it? How often is it the case that the negative thoughts about ourselves play like a broken record in our heads? How often do we assume that people are thinking the worst about us? How often do we return to a criticism or complaint? In some way those are echoes of the voice of the accuser. On the other hand, how crucial it is to give space to the compliments, the encouragement, the comfort, given by those who love us. These are all echoes of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate. Notice too that all these roles are the very names given to the Holy Spirit: the spirit of encouragement, the comforter.
As the days until Pentecost slip past, let us earnestly beseech the Risen Lord for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate.
God bless!
Fr. Rensch