Welcoming the Advocate!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 6th week in Easter time

May 19, 2020: Acts 16:22-34; John 16: 5-11

Beaten, bruised and bound, they sang the praises of the Lord... will not the glory of the Lord be revealed there? The act of Paul and Silas in the prison was such a powerful witness that the prison guards expected anything anytime. They were capable of it, because of the Spirit that filled them, fueled them and fired them.

It is the Advocate that Jesus promised to his disciples who makes the entire difference and the difference is enormous. We see this in the very first moment when the apostles come out to speak in public. The frightened band of messengers had been turned into fiercely blazing firebrands. 

Added to this, Jesus says, when the Spirit comes the Spirit will convict the world. Every heart is given the possibility to know what is true, good and just; every human heart has a longing for someone beyond oneself; every person called by the waters of baptism realises at the core of one's being, the need to be a righteous witness. In spite of these, if the person chooses to fall, decides to choose the evil, sides the evil and despises good, ignores the truth and passively permits the untruth...who is to be blamed? Is not a conviction needed there!

Sin, righteousness and judgement - they decide the quality of one's witnessing life. Receiving the Spirit is not merely receiving some magical power but it is facing the truth, encountering the all-knowing Divine, opening yourself completely before the finger of judgement. Are we really prepared to welcome the Advocate who is to come?