Readings:
Acts 17:15,22-18:1
John 16:12-15
Reflection:
At the last supper, Jesus told the apostles, “I have taught you everything that I have heard from my Father.” (John:15.15). Now he tells us “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (v. 12), Then he clarifies what he means. It won’t be he, Jesus talking but the Spirit. The Spirit will guide them “into all the truth” (v. 13) following his departure from the earth,
It is fundamental to our Christian identity that revelation comes to us through the person of Jesus Christ. And it is equally fundamental that this revelation continues to be played out throughout history, that it exists among us in our own time and that it will continue for all time. The church in John’s day, today, and always finds itself trying to understand and live its faith in the midst of social, cultural, and global circumstances that change rapidly.
We can share in John’s confidence that the Spirit remains the ongoing presence and revelation of Christ. We shouldn’t fear living out faith in Christ in the midst of a changing world where he is physically absent. This is because the Spirit “will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). The Spirit makes possible a deep understanding of what Jesus means for our own time.
The question for us is whether we listen to the Spirit and are open to newer and deeper understandings of our Christian faith in a vastly different context from Jesus’ time.
Brian Norman has been associated with the Passionists in various ways since he was three weeks old when he squared off with Fr Placid Millay CP over the baptismal font at St Brigid’s, Marrickville.