May 23 Monday:
Context: In his final discourse with the apostles at the Last Supper, Jesus assured them that he would not desert them. Instead, a powerful Divine Helper, the Holy Spirit, would come to them from Jesus and the Father in order to guide them and strengthen them.
The role of the Holy Spirit as outlined in today’s Gospel:
1) As the Counselor or Paraclete or Advocate, the Holy Spirit would coach,
defend, and strengthen the apostles in their sufferings and persecution and
would guide them during their trials before the civil authorities. 2) As the
Spirit of Truth, He would bear witness to Jesus and enable the apostles to bear
witness to Christ heroically before the pagans. The Holy Spirit would give them
an experiential knowledge of Jesus and an in-depth knowledge of Jesus’
teachings. “The mission of the Church is carried out by means of that activity
through which, in obedience to Christ’s command and moved by the grace and love
of the Holy Spirit, the Church makes itself fully present to all men and
peoples in order to lead them to the Faith, freedom, and peace of Christ by the
example of its life and preaching, by the Sacraments and other means of grace”
(Vatican II Decree, Ad Gentes 5). Then Jesus foretells the
nature of the persecution: 1) Excommunicating Jesus’ followers from synagogues;
2) Establishing the murder of Jesus’ followers (“heretics”), as a religious
duty in defense of Judaism and, so, pleasing to Yahweh.
Life messages: 1) As the Divine Advocate, the
Holy Spirit, living within us, continues to help us bear witness to Christ by
assisting us to live transparent Christian lives. 2) He also gives us courage
and perseverance when we meet adversities and challenges. 3) As the Divine
Teacher, the Holy Spirit, through our daily study of the Bible, helps us to
know Jesus thoroughly, to love him personally and to experience him intimately,
so that we may live the ideals of Christ and convey them to others through our
genuine Christian lives. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
May 24 Tuesday:
The context: In today’s Gospel, Jesus
tries to console his sad and disheartened disciples at the Last Supper, for
they are at a loss, hearing the news of their master’s imminent departure. So,
he assures them that they will not be left alone. He will send the Holy Spirit
upon them as a friend, guide, consoler and teacher. Then Jesus explains the
three different roles of the Holy Spirit in their lives. First, He will
convince the world about the seriousness of sin. Thus, the Holy Spirit will
lead us to repent of our sins and seek forgiveness from Jesus. The Divine
Advocate will demonstrate that not believing in Jesus is the real sin. It is
the Holy Spirit Who would prick the hearts of the Jews on the day of Pentecost,
convicting them of their sin of crucifying their Messiah. In the same way, He
convicts us of wrongdoing and convinces us of God’s truth. Second, the Spirit
convinces us of the righteousness of Christ, which means that that Jesus was
right in his teachings and promises, as proved by God His Father Who granted
him Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. Although Jesus was condemned to
death, it was actually Satan, the ruler of this world, who was condemned
through Jesus’ death. Third, the Holy Spirit gives us the inner and unshakable
conviction that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. When we
heed God’s judgments, we find true peace, joy, and reconciliation with God.
Life message: We need to allow the Holy Spirit to do
what He wishes in and through our lives so that He may release us from the grip
of sin and set us ablaze with the fire of God’s love. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
May 25 Wednesday: (St. Bede, Venerable, Priest,
Doctor of the Church), St.
Gregory VII, Pope, St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, Virgin:
The context: Today’s Gospel passage is taken
from the Last Supper discourse in which Jesus instructed his disciples on the
role of the Holy Spirit and His relationship with Jesus and God the Father.
1) First, as the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit is the
Gift of God Who is the Possessor and the Giver of all truth. It is the Spirit’s
role to make the disciples fully understand the truths revealed by Christ.
Vatican II teaches that Our Lord “completed and perfected Revelation and
confirmed it…finally by sending the Spirit of Truth” (Vatican II, Dei
Verbum 4).
2) By bringing to their minds and clarifying everything
Jesus has taught them, the Holy Spirit will also enable them to render glory to
God by glorifying His Son Jesus.
Relationship of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son:
Jesus also reveals the mystery of the Blessed Trinity in today’s Gospel
passage, saying that the Three Divine Persons have the same nature: “everything
that the Father has belongs to the Son, and everything the Son has belongs to
the Father” (cf. John 17:10), and that the Spirit also shares the same
Divine Essence with the Father and the Son.
Life message: 1) We need the daily guidance and
strengthening of the Holy Spirit in our mission of bearing witness. We should
remember that Faith is a gift. Hence, we do not gain converts by argument or
eloquence, but by praying for them and by radiating, through our living, the
Good News that Jesus has died for our sins, has risen for our justification,
and offers us a share in his glory. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/22
May 26 Thursday: (Feast of Ascension of our Lord) or St.
Philip Neri, Priest)
The context: In the Last Supper discourse, Jesus
tells the Apostles about leaving them in order to return to his Father and
about coming again at the end of time to usher in the new age of God’s kingdom.
When they start asking each other the meaning of these statements, Jesus
explains to them the hardships they will have to face after his departure and
the glorious reward waiting for them in his Second Coming. But as he had
consoled them earlier, promising to send a Paraclete, now Jesus assures them
that his absence is only temporary.
A little while: Jesus is speaking about a three-level
disappearance and reappearance. The first level is Jesus’ death and
Resurrection. The apostles will no longer see Jesus when he dies. But they will
see Jesus again in three days as their risen Lord. The second level is the
mystical level: They will lose sight of Jesus physically when he ascends to the
glory of the Father. But they will see Jesus again in many ways by Faith when
the Holy Spirit comes (e.g., in the Holy Eucharist, in the Holy Bible, in the
praying community, and in people we meet). There is also a third level. Jesus
is not now visible physically to the world but will manifest his glory to the
whole world when he comes again in glory for the Last Judgment. In the light of
eternity, a few thousand years are but an instant, a very short while.
Life messages: 1) Let us try to recognize the
presence of the living Lord in our midst here and now. 2) Let us ask Him to
help us adjust our daily lives accordingly, so that we, too, may inherit the
eternal joy prepared for us. Fr. Tony (frtonyshomilies.com) L/22
May 27 Friday: (St. Augustine of Canterbury,
Bishop):
The context: After foretelling his imminent
departure following the Last Supper, Jesus tried to boost the morale of his sad
and dispirited disciples. First, he consoled them, promising them to send his
Holy Spirit as their Paraclete — Consoler, Guide and Advocate (Attorney). Then,
Jesus assured them that his absence would only be temporary.
Contrast between present sorrows and future glory: Jesus
compares the temporary pain, sufferings and persecutions of his disciples to
the passing, though intense, labor-pains of a woman giving birth to her child.
The moment she hears the cry of her child and sees his or her face she forgets
all her pain. In the same way, the “other-worldly” joy waiting for his
disciples will transcend all types of earthly joys.
Life messages: 1) Let us see our pains and
suffering as God’s means to strengthen our will and form our character. The
conviction of the temporary nature of our suffering and of the glory waiting
for us if we accept pain and suffering graciously, converting them into willing
acts of reparation for sins, will help us to face them heroically. (Fr. Tony)
L/22
May 28 Saturday:
The context: Jesus used parables and metaphors,
both in teaching the general public and in explaining teachings to the
apostles. Today’s Gospel passage is taken from Jesus’ last discourse with his
disciples at their Last Passover Supper together. Here, too, Jesus uses
metaphors of a vine and its branches and the simile of a woman giving birth.
Now Jesus tells them that he is going to tell them about God, his Father, in
plain language. Jesus explains the mystery of his Incarnation in plain language
saying, “I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I
am leaving the world and going to the Father.” Then Jesus corrects the
Jewish misconception of God, his Father, as a judging and punishing God,
telling the apostles that God the Father is a loving and forgiving Father, to
Whom they can pray directly (“Abba!”) in Jesus’ name, and that their prayers
will be granted because the Father knows that they love His Son, Jesus, and
believe in His Divinity. To pray in Jesus’ Name is not a magic formula or
password. It means that we come to God the Father in the merit and
righteousness of His Son Jesus. In other words, I come to the Father depending
on the perfect merit of Jesus which gives me standing before the Father. It
also means that I pray to Father as Jesus’ representative, asking that God the
Father’s will be done and that His name be glorified. In other words, praying
in Jesus’ name means praying with Jesus’ authority and asking God the Father to
act upon our prayers because we come in the name of His Son, Jesus. This is the
pattern of prayer in the Liturgy. The Eucharistic prayer is invariably
addressed to the Father, “through Him (Jesus), with Him and in Him, in
the unity of the Holy Spirit” All our prayer has the pattern of the
Trinity stamped on it. This does not mean that we should never pray to anyone
but the Father. We are free to pray to Jesus, Mary, and the saints, but always
in the full knowledge that the Father is the ultimate Recipient of all prayer –
just as the sea receives every stream.
Life message: 1) God our Father is a loving, merciful and providing God who wants His children to approach Him directly and through His Son and our only mediator, Jesus. 2) Hence, let us make our prayers of adoration, praise, thanksgiving, contrition, and petition more effective and fruitful by offering them to God our Father through His Son Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
