GOSPEL REFLECTION, WEDNESDAY, 6TH WEEK OF EASTER, 28 MAY 2025

John 16:12-15.  As Jesus’ farewell to his disciples at the Last Supper draws to a close, we recognise the urgency with which he speaks to his disciples.  He tells them that he still has much to say, but that they are not yet able to understand all he has to say.  They are still early in their discipleship, and the Holy Spirit has not yet been sent to assist them.  The Spirit will descend on them on Pentecost and will continue to open their hearts and to teach them – “he (the Holy Spirit) will guide you into all truth” (v. 13).  The opening of that truth is the work of revelation by the Holy Spirit.  He will do so not on his own authority or out of his own knowledge, but what he is given to say and do by the Father and the Son.  To understand the significance of John’s words here, we need to remind ourselves strongly that God is in three persons.  The Holy Trinity must always be in our hearts and minds as we hear or speak of God.  What is revealed to us comes from God, the possessor and giver of all truth.  Truth is the free gift of God’s grace.  It is not created by us, but freely given by God, “so long as we have ears to see and the eyes to hear” as St Augustine says in one of his sometimes-quirky sermons. Revelation comes to us from a person  -- the person of Christ by the Holy Spirit, not from any other source.  The closer we live to Jesus the better we will know him.  The more we comprehend that gift of grace in our hearts and minds, the more he will make known to us.