Gospel Of Sunday, 14 May: John 14, 15-21
Gospel Of Sunday, John 14, 15-21: Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 1
6 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.
17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you.
18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 1
9 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Dear Sisters and Brothers of Mercy, I am Carlo Miglietta, doctor, biblical scholar, layman, husband, father and grandfather (www.buonabibbiaatutti.it).
Also today I share with you a short meditation on the Gospel, with particular reference to the theme of mercy.
John 14, 15-21: Commentary on the Gospel
Bonhoeffer said: “The priest as opposed to the prophet, the Church of the world as opposed to the Church of faith, the Church of Aaron as opposed to the Church of Moses: this is the eternal conflict in the Church of Christ… Church of the priests – Church of the Word; Church of Aaron – Church of Moses: this historic clash at the foot of Sinai, the end of the Church of the world and the appearance of the word of God, is repeated in our Church day after day, Sunday after Sunday.
A Church of the world, that does not want to wait, that does not want to live off the invisible, a Church that makes its own gods; a Church that wants to have the god it likes and does not care about pleasing God; a Church that wants to do for itself what God does not do; a Church that is ready for any sacrifice, as long as there is idolatry, deification of human thoughts and values; a Church that attributes to itself divine omnipotence in the priesthood: this is how our Church continues to be when it gathers for divine worship.
And as a Church that has its idols shattered and shattered to the ground, as a Church that must once again be told: ‘I am the Lord your God’, as a Church that annihilates itself, struck down by this word, as the Church of Moses, the Church of the Word: so should we then leave.
From being the impatient Church that it was, the Church becomes the Church of silent expectation, from being the Church of the impetuous need to see, it becomes the Church of faith without exaltation, from being the Church of self-idolatry, it becomes the Church that worships God alone… As the Church that is simultaneously the Church of Moses and of Aaron, we point to the cross and say: ‘Behold, Israel, this is your God who has delivered you from slavery and will continue to do so.
Come, believe, worship!”.
The Church must first of all be docile to the action of the Spirit, who “comes to help us in our weakness” (Rom 8:26), to transform her Church with his constant “action” (2 Cor 3:18), with his “strength” (Lk 24:49), with his “power” (Lk 4:14): “Receive the power of the Holy Spirit upon you… Then you will become my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).
The Spirit makes the Church capable of enthusiasm and ecstasy (Acts 2:1-40). “Enthusiasm”, as the word itself says, means “possessing God within”: “èntheos” is one who is indwelt by God.
The Spirit gives the Church the awareness of being the place of God’s Presence: to have enthusiasm is to let oneself be guided by the creative and life-giving energy of the Spirit itself (Jn 14:16-17; Rom 8:9-11; 1 Cor 3:16). Ecstasy is not so much prodigious experience as knowing how to “come out of ourselves” and go out to the world to serve it, love it, proclaim the Gospel.
The Spirit gives the Church newness and freshness (Gen 1:2; Mt 1:20; Rom 1:4; 1 Tim 3:16; Acts 2:32), the power of synthesis and unity, and at the same time the energy of differentiation and pluralism (1 Cor 12:7-13), the capacity for communication and relationship (Acts 2:11), full life (Jn 6:63) in the Spirit itself (Jn 14:16-17; Rom 8:9-1
Good Mercy to all!
Anyone wishing to read a more complete exegesis of the text, or some insights, ask me at migliettacarlo@gmail.com.
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