Cycle C - Year II: 

1 May 2016: Sixth Sunday of Easter 

(Liturgical color: White)

Gospel: Please read  John 14:23-29

A life of love, strengthened by the Holy Spirit!

It is hard to say "goodbye", but sometimes the pain eases when you know that those you'd leave behind are in good hands, so to speak.

Jesus is preparing His disciples for his impending departure. A week from now we will celebrate the Lord's Ascension.

Our Lord gave the disciples a new commandment: "Love one

another, as I have loved you." Because by a life of love the world will know that they are His disciples.

Today, Jesus challenges us to commit ourselves deeper in a life of love. He said to the disciples: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him."

Thus, Jesus urges His disciples to keep His word or his teachings as a concrete expression of their love for Jesus. Because His word, as Jesus Himself explains, is not His own but is from the Father.

The phrase "keep my word" means the we remain faithful to the totality of the message of Jesus, as handed down to us through traditions and the teaching of His Church. This is a timely message today when people call themselves His followers and yet question the validity of His teachings, or interpret them according to what pleases them.

Although He is leaving soon, Jesus promises that He is coming back. But while waiting for that time, "The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything  and remind you of all that I told you." (Jn 14:26)

In other words, the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church is our assurance that her missionary work is not simply a human endeavor but in reality the continuation of Jesus' saving mission, and so therefore the work of God Himself. The Holy Spirit never leaves the Church. So that when we sometimes feel overwhelmed by personal trials, like when we struggle to pray because of so many distractions, or at times when we want to pray but seem not to have the words to express ourselves, it is the Holy Spirit that links us to God and interprets our desire before Him. In the words of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, "It is the Holy Spirit who helps our inability, who enlightens our minds and warms our hearts, guiding us as we turn to God."

In the Eucharist at Mass, let us commit our love for Jesus by keeping His word and witnessing His teachings through our authentic Christian living. So that as Jesus Himself promised, the Father and the Son will abide within us, and the Holy Spirit will make us undertand Jesus' teaching through His Church.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!