If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Jn 14:15-21
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth.
ADVOCATE:
Some translations prefer to use the word “paraclete” instead of “advocate”.
Another Advocate: This implies a previous advocate. This advocate is Jesus in the sense of intercessor in heaven.
In Greek legal terminology an advocate is a defense attorney. However, it can also mean spokesman, mediator, intercessor, comforter, consoler.
According to the New American Bible, in St. John’s Gospel, the Advocate or Paraclete is a teacher, a witness to Jesus, and a prosecutor of the world. He repre-sents the continued presence on earth of Jesus who has returned to the Father and sits at his right hand.
But the Ecumenical Translation of the Bible (TOB) explains the role of the Holy Spirit as helping the disciples remain firm in the faith in the face of the difficulties the world will hurl at them.
WITH YOU ALWAYS:
The gift of the Holy Spirit is without time limit. And thus, the communion between Jesus and his disciples will always remain unbroken.
THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH:
The Holy Spirit will help the disciples to grow in knowledge and to witness to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is opposed to the spirit of error and of lies which dominate the world.
In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
An alternative translation would be: “But you will see me alive and you also will live.”
The world can only see Jesus as dead The disciples on the other hand experiences the presence of Jesus and shares in the new life of Jesus. Those who will believe because of the witness of the disciples will also participate in this new life. And for John this is already constitutes eternal life.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father….
On that day is a recurrent OT formula to designate the coming eschatological age. This age (the last days) already began with the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.
The meaning here is that of knowing and of putting into practice the commandments with constancy. Obedience to the commandments is the expression of both love and faith.
TO CONSOLE
To console is to alleviate grief, sense of loss, or trouble of. To console is to comfort.
Our hospitals usually have chapels. And they are not merely decorations. They are not there because of some custom. They are there for people to bring their worries and fears to God. They are there to find some comfort. For after all Jesus did say: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).
In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that after the apostles had been imprisoned and flogged, “they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name” (Acts 11:41). How could they be happy after having been jailed and whipped? The Holy Spirit comforted them.
As God comforts us so also we are asked to comfort others. One of the corpo-ral works of mercy is to visit the sick. When one is sick, it is not only the body that is weak. One is psychologically and emotionally weak as well. When we come and visit we give our moral support to the sick. That psychological and emotional boost helps the body get well.
But sometimes it is no longer a matter of getting well. I remember accompanying my mother visit Lola Felisa. She was in bed. She cried when she saw us. Between sobs she told my mother that she could no longer walk. Her legs refused to carry her. My mother embraced her and let her talk. When we left, we knew she was very comforted. She died not long afterwards.
We have a saying that goes something like this: “It is better to be robbed than to have your house burned down.” That was what happened to one of our high school students many years ago. They lost everything. The only thing he was able to save were the clothes he was sleeping in. We organized a fund drive. The response of the students was amazing. When we handed the collection to the mother, she could not help but cry. She was very much comforted by the solidarity of the student body.
Rejection is a painful experience. It can even leave a lasting damage to one’s self-esteem. One high school student had a crush on a girl. He wrote her some “love” notes. The girl did not find him attractive and told him so in a tactless manner. It was a good thing his friends were there to comfort him. One of them said, “Look. It’s her loss, not yours.”
Here are some tips on giving comfort.
1. We need to develop the ability to sympathize. It is the ability to understand and even appreciate the feelings of another. The essence of sympathy is that one has a strong concern for the other person.
2. We need to listen to the other. The other person needs to know we are lis-tening with our ears and with our hearts.
3. Sometimes we just need to be there. But at other times we need to speak. It is then that we should be careful about what we say and how we say it. To tell a mother whose child has died that it is God’s will, may sound full of faith. But is that what she needs to hear at that moment? And would she be ready to hear those words at that moment?
4. Human touch connects people. It overcomes the feeling of isolation. A hug, a hand shake can bring much comfort.
5. A card or a poster can do wonders. I remember a grandfather who had to be placed in the ICU after surgery. His two young granddaughters drew a get-well-soon poster on a cartolina. That cartolina was then posted in the ICU. That gesture of affection from his granddaughters gave him much comfort.
We live in this valley of tears. For one reason or another, we shall always ex-perience sorrow, loss and troubles. But we don’t have to suffer alone. We can always go to God for comfort and strength. But let us not only be receivers of comfort. Let us also learn to become givers of comfort. Let us learn to reach out and alleviate the sorrow, the loss and the troubles of a fellow human being.
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