The Holy Spirit will teach you everything.

"The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you." (John 14: 26).

Sunday of the 6th week of Easter. Two weeks to Pentecost. The excitement is growing. The disciples were advised to retreat to the Upper Room and prepare for this phenomenal event.  The Holy Spirit? Why does He matter?
"The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church. She is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity's communion with men." (CCC 747). This is He and this is what He does. He is also the Lord and Giver of life. The eternal life we start enjoying here and now when we believe in Jesus. He is also the Abundant life promised by Jesus in John 10: 10.

If you have received Him but not yet activated this awesome Person, prepare for Pentecost Sunday June 9th through intense desire and prayer.

"If you love me, keep my commandments, says the Lord,
and I will ask the Father and he will send you another Paraclete,
to abide with you for ever." (John 14: 15 - 16).

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St Bede the Venerable shed a brilliant light on England.

"Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number." (Acts 16: 5).

Saturday of the 5th week of Easter. Our reflection today is pulled from the 1st Reading: The introduction of St Timothy to the Apostle Paul and their work in Derbe and Lystra. We read of the fruit of their missionary endeavors:
"Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number." What does it mean to say that the Church grew stronger in faith? It means that the Christians grew stronger in their understanding and acceptance of the truths of the faith. Is this something that can be said of you? For example, are you growing in your understanding and acceptance of the truths in Sacred Scripture and all the teachings of the Church?

Today is the feast of St Bede the Venerable (672 - 735), Priest and Doctor of the Church. St Bede worked hard to help the Church in England grow stronger in faith and increase in numbers. He was a brilliant light in his day.

"Lord, You have enlightened Your Church with the learning of St Bede. In Your love, may Your people learn from his wisdom and benefit from his prayers. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen" (Collect on the feast of St Bede the Venerable, May 25).

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Who are you prepared to lay down your life for?

"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15: 13).

Friday of the 5th week of Easter. We hear throughout the Gospel of how much Jesus loves us. This lesson comes to us through His teaching, parables, miracles. But the greatest of this word comes to us through His teaching by example:
"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." Who can doubt this? Who can sneer at this? This is why the Cross is such a powerful symbol. It proclaims graphically the whole message of salvation.

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3: 16 NLT).

Thank You Jesus.

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We are saved by grace through faith.

"And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the holy Spirit just as he did us." (Acts 15: 8).

Thursday of the 5th week of Easter. The first Reading of today (Acts 15: 7 - 21)is what is often referred to as the first Church Council of Jerusalem. The rights, privileges and obligations of the Gentile Christians were defined and codified "but tell them by letter."

What won the argument between the party of the Pharisees and the non Judaisers was this critical insight:
"And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the holy Spirit just as he did us." (Acts 15: 8). That is to say: God saves all people by grace through faith. (Ephesians 2: 8).

Brothers and sisters, rejoice in this truth. Let nothing keep you from enjoying fully the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, eternal life and all the fruits of Salvation.

"We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they.” (Acts 15: 11). This silenced the whole assembly. They understood that the Holy Spirit has spoken.

"O God, by whose grace,
though sinners, we are made just
and, though pitiable, made blessed,
stand, we pray, by your works,
stand by your gifts, that those justified by faith may not lack the courage of perseverance.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever." (Collect, Thursday of the 5th week of Easter).

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When the Father starts pruning you, get ready for promotion.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will bear even more fruitful." (John 15: 1 - 2).

Wednesday of the 5th week of Easter. During this great Easter Season, the Son speaks to us always. We hear of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. Rarely do we hear of Abba Father, the first Person of the Holy Trinity. All the Three Sacred Persons are involved in the work of our salvation.

Jesus teaches us in (John 15: 1 - 2) of the pruning action of Abba for the son and daughter being prepared for promotion. We have further encouragement from the Book of Hebrews:
"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?  If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all." (Hebrews 12: 7 - 8).

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you submit yourself for discipline.

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When you recover from your disgrace, strengthen your brothers and sisters.

"They [Paul and Barnabas] strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14: 22).

Tuesday of the 5th week of Easter. Paul and Barnabas are busy traveling from city to city planting churches. Many of the new Christians were shocked when they meet brutal opposition in their efforts to evangelize. They consider it great anomaly. "This shouldn't happen. After all, we are preaching the Good News and everybody should be happy about it."

Have you ever been opposed or experienced obstacles in spreading the faith or doing corporal and spiritual works of mercy? The gruesome suffering and death of Jesus the Messiah all but wiped out the faith of His disciples. Jesus spent a lot of time after His Resurrection reassuring His disciples and strengthening their faith.

"JESUS said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day." (Acts 24: 44 - 46).

Jesus prayed for Peter that his faith will not fail as a result of the massive assault of Satan on Peter and Satan's temporary victory. Jesus then said to Peter and to us:" "When you recover, strengthen your brothers and sisters."

"Father, You restored Your people to eternal life by raising Christ Your Son from death. Make our faith strong and our hope sure. May we never doubt that you will fulfill the promises You have made. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son." (Collect, Tuesday of the 5th week of Easter).

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I will send the Holy Spirit in My Name.

"The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you." (John 14: 26).

Monday of the 5th week of Easter. We are exactly three weeks to the end of the Easter Season and the Solemnity of Pentecost. In our Gospel of today, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit in His Name.
Today is the feast of St Bernadine of Siena (1380 - 1444), a Franciscan priest whose core ministry was witnessing to the power of the holy Name of Jesus. He worked in Italy and converted many through his faith in the power of the Name of Jesus.

Remember: "You are witnesses of these things." Jesus had said to His disciples:

#1 The Death of Jesus.
#2 Testimony of Scripture to the suffering and death of Jesus: (Luke 24: 44 - 46).
#3 The Resurrection of Jesus.
#4 The power of the Name of Jesus.

God gave St Bernadine of Siena a special love for the holy Name of Jesus. May God the Father give us a similar faith and love for this glorious Name.

The ancient Church sang this hymn when they met for Sunday Mass:
"Because of this, [humility of Jesus] God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth." (Philippians 2: 9 - 10).

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