In today’s Gospel we find an applied lesson in how hard it is to wrap our minds around one God in three Persons. If we trace the message heard and shared that Jesus refers to today, we see that the Father has shared something with the Son, who has it completely and shares it with the Holy Spirit, and with the goal of communicating it to us. There is one Gospel that the Father has entrusted to the Son and the Holy Spirit helps to be living and active in the lives of Christians and society.
Yesterday we saw the Holy Spirit as Advocate; today we see the Holy Spirit as the “the Spirit of truth.” Jesus had much more to say that he could put into words during his earthly mission, as he tells the disciples today. The Holy Spirit helps to keep communicating and to keep the message resounding down the centuries. The Spirit also ensures the integral transmission of that message, which is why the Spirit is a Spirit of truth that guides into all truth. In a world often obsessed with cover-ups, conspiracies, and the need for transparency, everyone is looking for the truth, the whole truth. The Holy Spirit wants to lead us into that truth, and is also the guarantor at times of truths we find hard to accept or to believe.
Let’s ask the Holy Spirit today to help us embrace our harder truths, knowing, as Jesus promised, that the truth will set us free (see John 8:32).
Readings: Acts 17:15, 22–18:1; Psalm 148:1–2, 11–14; John 16:12–15.