Courage

Jesus said to his disciples: "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, 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.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.  In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.  Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.  And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him."  John 14: 15 - 21

In today’s Gospel, Jesus, promises to send another Advocate to be with us always.  This promise brought me back to my own Confirmation.  Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is an intricate part of who we are as Christians.  The promise Jesus made gives one a profound sense of courage.  Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one or strength in the face of pain and grief.  As Jesus spoke about his leaving the disciples must have been very frightened yet these followers also had faith.  Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen, it gives us assurance about the things we cannot see (Hebrews 11: 1).  Let us live this day with faith and courage!

Pat Schifini, OSU