Seeing by the Light of the Holy Spirit

Sunday, May 17, 2020, Sixth Sunday of Easter
•Acts 8:5-8, 14-17
•Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
•1 Pt 3:15-18
•Jn 14:15-21

By Marc Massery

Have you ever been to an event that others were excited about, but you just couldn’t get interested in? Maybe you’ve been to a football game, for example, and don’t know the difference between a touchdown and a field goal. If that’s the case, you likely found sitting through an entire game pretty boring. But if you know the rules or have a passion for the sport, your experience of a game would be much more interesting, perhaps even exciting. Though everyone who goes watches the same game, what one sees depends on what one brings to the situation. 

In the Gospel reading this weekend, Jesus prepares His disciples for a great gift: the descent of the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit in your life, your experience of the world becomes different than most others. Jesus says, “[H]e will give you another Advocate to be with you always, 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” (Jn 14:16-17). The Holy Spirit enables you to see the world through the eyes of God. If you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, you might see good intentions in others where the world only sees ill-will. You might find hope where others only find despair. You might see God’s blessings where others only see misfortune. The presence of the Holy Spirit opens you up to see the truth, the deeper meaning hidden in the world. In this Gospel, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “the spirit of truth” (Jn 14:17). With the Holy Spirit, your life will make more sense and seem more interesting because you’ll have knowledge that others lack. Jesus says, “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live” (Jn 14:19). 

In her Diary, St. Faustina wrote:

Oh, if souls would only be willing to listen, at least a little, to the voice of conscience and the voice — that is, the inspirations — of the Holy Spirit! I say “at least a little,” because once we open ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit, He Himself will fulfill what is lacking in us. (359)

Look around you. Clearly, something is wrong with the world. What the world lacks is the Holy Spirit. If only more people would call on His help and act under His direction, rather than under the influence of the spirit of this world.  

But calling on the Holy Spirit isn’t all you need to do to receive His help. Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always” (Jn 14:15-16). Your reception of the Holy Spirit depends on following Christ as best you can, repenting when you fall short. By following God’s commandments, you say “yes” to receiving the Holy Spirit, to living in the world with a supernatural outlook. 

Though we must follow Christ in order to receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit is a gift. No one can earn Him or His insight. In His mercy, God gives us the Holy Spirit because He wants us to live in communion with Him. He wants us to see the world more as He sees it so that we can accomplish His will on earth and, at the end, enter into His glory, where we will be present with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit forever. 

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Photo by 卡晨 on Unsplash