“FIRST IMPRESSIONS”
PENTECOST -B- May 19, 2024
Acts 2: 1-11; Ps. 104; I Cor 12:
3b-7, 12-13; John 20: 19-23
by Jude Siciliano, OP
Dear Preachers:
I have a friend named Rosie. She is in her 70s
and since childhood has been friends with Marie. Seven years ago Rosalie moved
about an hour away from Marie. But she still makes the trip once, or twice, a
week to see her friend, because 20 years ago Marie developed a disease that
slowly paralyzed her whole body. Her brain does not communicate with her
muscles. Little by little her body became scrunched up. Now, she can’t move,
can’t turn her head, or speak clearly. She has to live in a nursing home under
constant care.
It is heart wrenching to visit her in the nursing home where she has been in bed
for 15 years in her present condition. Her sister, who was also confined in a
nearby room, died a year ago. Marie has no other family and Rosie is her only
visitor. So, the nursing home has to contact Rosie if they change the dose of
Marie’s medication, or if she gets a flu shot, or gets sick. Rosie does more.
When she visits Marie she brings her clean bed clothes and flowers, rubs her
arms and face with soothing lotion, kisses her on the cheeks and tells Marie, “I
love you.” And Marie says in return, barely audible,, “I love you too Rosie.”
Rosie is Marie’s advocate. She is by her side when the need arises. She offers
Marie love when there’s no one else to offer it. She oversees Marie’s daily care
and argues for her when she is neglected. She brings the nurses cookies, telling
me it is a “friendly bribe” for their good care of Marie. Rosie is on Marie’s
side, speaks up for her, protects her rights, brings her joy and hope, because
Marie knows Rosie will be there for her whenever she needs her.
The Bible, in both the Hebrew text and the New Testament, is filled with names
for God, but God is infinite and no one name can capture God’s identity and
activity. In St. John’s Gospel, as we heard today, the name Jesus gives the Holy
Spirit is Advocate. Think of Rosie’s presence in Marie’s life: that is just a
hint of how the Spirit is in our life. The name Advocate, or Paraclete, means
someone who is called to be at the side of a person in need – especially in a
legal matter when they have no one to stand up for them. Hence, having the
Advocate means we are not left on our own, especially when our need is dire!
The Advocate continues to stir up the life of Jesus in us; keeps us firm when we
are challenged in our faith, tempted to compromise, or give up our Christian
identity to take an easier path. The Advocate, the “Spirit of Truth,” helps us
separate what is true and of God in our lives and what is false and illusionary.
Or, as Jesus would say, what is “of the world.”
In today’s gospel Jesus is with his disciples around the table. It is the night
before he dies. He has tried to prepare them for the catastrophe that is about
to happen to him, and will happen to them, if they continue to choose to follow
him. He is staying true to form, not telling them, “There, there, everything
will be fine. Keep a stiff upper lip.” He speaks the truth to them. Following
him in this world will not be easy. The coming crisis in their lives will tempt
them to give up on him and his way. There is a danger they will grow discouraged
and fall away. Jesus is telling his disciples that the suffering they will have
because of him is the kind they can avoid, if they choose.
It is not the suffering we experience because we get seriously sick, or have a
catastrophic accident. In situations like that we do not have a choice. He is
telling his disciples they will suffer, specifically because they are his
disciples. They have chosen to follow him and to live his kind of life. Jesus’
way of living caused him to be rejected suffer and die. His disciples must be
made aware that if we take up his ways, his life, then we should also expect
rejection and maybe even worse.
We know the cost of discipleship if we have: chosen to speak up for a less
significant person in our family, or society; decided not to make a career move
up the ladder because we wanted time with family, or be active in our church
community; given our free time to stay with a sick person, as Rosie did; welcome
new neighbors into a neighborhood, or country, that does not want them; taken
time from friends we love to feed the hungry, or visit the imprisoned, etc
To be faithful to Jesus’ way of life over the long haul, can be fatiguing and
costly. It cost him everything. After an initial enthusiastic beginning some
decided to return to former ways of living – not bad ways, but more personal,
“self-focused” ways, because they tired paying the price. Jesus would say they
had “fallen away.” But he did tell us the truth, didn’t he? He clearly laid out
the cost of being his disciples. He also did what he promised. He knew we were
too vulnerable on our own, so he sent us the Advocate.
The “ Advocate” is a strange name for the Holy Spirit, isn’t it? It does not
sound pious, religious, or theological. And it isn’t. Advocate is a term in
daily life and so gives us an insight into the practical, real, everyday
activity of the Holy Spirit. We have tended to think of the Holy Spirit as being
“on call”... somewhere “on high,” waiting to be called upon to come to our aid
when, we have an important decision to make, or we have a big exam at school.
But our God is not a “part-time God.” Jesus kept his word and sent the
“Advocate”...full-time, with us...up close and personal. This is a limping
analogy, just a clue to the life of the Holy Spirit with us. But think of what
and who Rosie is for Marie, with all her physical, emotional and spiritual
needs. The Spirit is more, with us, 24/7 – God, our Advocate, full time with us.
Jesus has been honest with us. He is not dwelling with us any longer, the way he
did when he walked the earth. But he has not left us orphans facing daily
challenges to the practice of our faith. He knows how vulnerable we are against
the strong tugs of our world. At our Eucharist today we might name the
challenges we face as we attempt to live faithfully Jesus’ way. Here we will be
fed with the “daily bread” we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer, the food the
Advocate feeds us for our ongoing and challenging journey. Jesus made a promise
to his disciples who were about to be pressed, scattered, divided and tempted by
events. In one way, or another, that happens to each of us at some moment in our
lives. Probably more than once. Jesus keeps his promise, he gives us his Spirit,
our Advocate. If it helps, think of the Holy Spirit as our full-time Rosie,
always by our side, especially when we need her.