From: John 15:26-16:4a
A Hostile World (Continuation)
The Action of the Holy Spirit
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Commentary:
26-27. Just before the Ascension our Lord will again charge the Apostles with the
mission to bear witness to Him (cf. Acts 1:8). They have been witnesses to the
public ministry, death and resurrection of Christ, which is a condition for belonging
to the Apostolic College, as we see when Matthias is elected to take the place of
Judas (cf. Acts 1:21-22). But the public preaching of the Twelve and the life of the
Church will not start until the Holy Spirit comes.
Every Christian should be living witness to Jesus, and the Church as a whole is a
permanent testimony to Him: “The mission of the Church is carried out by means
of that activity through which, in obedience to Christ’s command and moved by the
grace and love of the Holy Spirit, the Church makes itself fully present to all men
and peoples in order to lead them to the faith, freedom and peace of Christ by the
example of its life and preaching, by the sacraments and other means of grace”
(Vatican II, “Ad Gentes”, 5).
2-3. Fanaticism can even bring a person to think that it is permissible to commit
a crime in order to serve the cause of religion—as happened with those Jews who
persecuted Jesus to the point of bringing about His death, and who later persecu-
ted the Church. Paul of Tarsus was a typical example of misguided zeal (cf. Acts
22:3-16); but once Paul realized he was wrong he changed and became one of
Christ’s most fervent apostles. As Jesus predicted, the Church has often experi-
enced this sort of fanatical, diabolical hatred. At other times this false zeal, though
not so obvious, takes the form of systematic and unjust opposition to the things of
God. “In the moments of struggle and opposition, when perhaps ‘the good’ fill your
way with obstacles, lift up your apostolic heart: listen to Jesus as He speaks of
the grain of mustard seed and of the leaven. And say to Him: ‘edissere nobis para-
bolam’: explain the parable to me.’
“And you will feel the joy of contemplating the victory to come: the birds of the
air lodging in the branches of your apostolate, now only in its beginnings, and
the whole of the meal leavened” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 695).
In these cases, as our Lord also pointed out, those who persecute God’s true
servants think they are serving Him: they confuse God’s interest with a deformed
idea of religion.
4. Here Jesus prophesies not only His own death (cf. Matthew 16:21-23) but also
the persecution His disciples will suffer. He forewarns them of the contradictions
they will experience so that they will not be scandalized or depressed when they
do arise; in fact, difficulties will give them an opportunity to demonstrate their faith.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
First reading | Acts 16:11-15 © |
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Psalm | Psalm 149:1-6,9 © |
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Gospel Acclamation | cf.Lk24:46,26 |
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Or | Jn15:26,27 |
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Gospel | John 15:26-16:4 © |
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