A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John (16:12-15)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.”
REFLECTION: Some of you may already have heard of, or even better, have lived a Cursillo Weekend. It’s a “Three Day Weekend,” of a time for personal reflection and spiritual growth, where participants can experience the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. It’s a period of intense prayer, reflection, and community, designed to help individuals deepen their relationship with God and their understanding of the Catholic faith. Something that on my own, I was not able to do, throughout my life, until that weekend in 2004.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus said to His disciples, “But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” We need the Holy Spirit to help us with the vision, of our Savior Jesus Christ. Even a glimpse of Him near me, in order that I don’t stray away from the TRUTH.
The disciples have been privileged to seeing, and hearing from God through Jesus. In His absence, they will still be privileged to hear from God, through the Holy Spirit. In our lives, the Holy Spirit also lives in us, and we need to show Him to others through our actions, words, by demonstrating the “Fruits of the Spirit”; charity (love), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity. These fruits are the first fruits of eternal glory and are the visible manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives.
I now close with this story. In 1952, a long-distance swimmer by the name of Florence Chadwick, slipped into the waters off the beach of Catalina Island and began to swim her way across to the coast of California. She was quite confident that she could do this because she had earlier been the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways.
It was a chilly and foggy morning, and she could barely see the boats that went alongside her. After 15 hours of swimming, fatigue began to set in her, so bad, that she asked to be taken out of the water, but her trainer refused, telling her, “No, you can make it. The shore is not far away. Dig in! Hang in there! Keep trying!” But not long after, being both physically and emotionally exhausted, she just gave up, and stopped swimming, so they had to pull her into a boat, or she would drown. Sadly, she was only half a mile away from the shore.
The following morning at a news conference, she said something that I believe relates well to today’s Gospel. She said, and I quote her, “I do not want to make excuses for myself. I am the one who asked to be pulled out. But I think that, if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.” Two months later, she proved her point by swimming the distance.
My brothers and sisters, as children of God, we need to see the shore. We all need a vision of our magnificent God, our glorious Savior, Jesus Christ, to motivate us to become more like Him, to serve Him, to worship Him, to honor Him in everything in our lives. To be His face to others. I pray, that the Spirit will do His work in you, and give you that vision.
ACTION FOR THE DAY: Reflect of today’s message by asking God for ways, to have a vision of the glorified Christ in your life because, this is what motivates His followers, to love and serve Him in whatever He calls us for. Without that vision, we will give up and fail.
AUDIO REFLECTION:
