To the disciples Jesus addresses the invitation to rejoice, to overcome the temptation of sadness for the departure of the Master, because this departure is a condition laid down in the divine plan for the coming of the Holy Spirit: "It is good for you that I go away, because if I do not go away the Paraclete will not come to you; but when I have gone away, I will send him to you" (Jn 16:7). It will be the gift of the Spirit that will bring the disciples great joy, indeed the fullness of joy, according to the intention expressed by Jesus. After inviting the disciples to remain in his love, the Saviour said: "This I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full" (Jn 15:11; cf. Jn 17:13). It is the Holy Spirit who puts into the hearts of the disciples the same joy as Jesus, the joy of faithfulness to the love that comes from the Father.

St Luke records that the disciples, who at the time of the Ascension had received the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit, "returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were always in the temple praising God" (Lk 24:52-53). In the Acts of the Apostles it appears that, after Pentecost, a climate of profound joy was created in the Apostles, which was communicated to the community in the form of exultation and enthusiasm in embracing the faith, receiving baptism, and living together, as evidenced by "taking meals with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and enjoying the sympathy of all the people" (Acts 2:46-47). The book of Acts notes: "The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 13, 52).

6. Soon would come the tribulations and persecutions foretold by Jesus in announcing the coming of the Paraclete-Consoler (cf. Jn 16:1ff). But according to Acts, joy endures even in trial: we read that the Apostles, when they were brought before the Sanhedrin, flogged, admonished and sent home, returned "rejoicing that they had been outraged for the sake of the name of Jesus. And every day, in the temple and at home, they did not cease to teach and to bring the good news that Jesus is the Christ" (Acts 5:41-42).

This, after all, is the condition and lot of Christians, as St Paul reminds the Thessalonians: "You have become imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word with the joy of the Holy Spirit even in the midst of great tribulation" (1 Thess 1:6). Christians, according to Paul, repeat in themselves the paschal mystery of Christ, which has the Cross as its pivot. But its crowning glory is the "joy of the Holy Spirit" for those who persevere in trials. This is the joy of the beatitudes, and more particularly the beatitude of the afflicted, and of the persecuted (cf. Mt 5:4, 10-12). Did not the Apostle Paul say: 'I rejoice in the sufferings I endure for you . . ." (Col 1:24)? And Peter, for his part, exhorted: "Inasmuch as you share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that in the revelation of his glory you may also rejoice and exult" (1 Pet 4:13).

Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to kindle in us more and more the desire for heavenly goods and make us one day enjoy their fullness: "Give virtue and reward, give holy death, give eternal joy.

Amen.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 19 June 1991]

To break the forced laughter of "a non-joyful culture that invents everything to have a good time", offering "bits of sweet life everywhere", the true joy of the Christian takes care of it. Which "cannot be bought at the market" but is "a gift of the Spirit", guarded by faith and always "in tension between the memory of salvation and hope". It was all about joy as the authentic "breath of the Christian" in the homily delivered by Pope Francis during the mass on Monday 28 May at Santa Marta.

Taking his cue from the Gospel passage from Mark (10:17-27), the Pontiff pointed out that "this young man who wanted to go on in the life of service to God, who had always lived according to the commandments and also who was able to draw Jesus' love to himself, when he heard the condition that Jesus gave him "became dark in the face and went away saddened"". In practice 'the attitude, the attitude, the roots of his personality came out of his heart'. As if to say: 'Yes, I want to follow the Lord, go with the Lord, but don't touch riches'. Because, the Pope insisted, that young man "was imprisoned in riches, he was not free and for this reason he went away sad".

"Instead, in the first reading St Peter speaks to us of joy, not sadness but Christian joy," the Pontiff continued, recalling the passage from the apostle's first letter (1, 3-9). "This young man went away sad because he was not free, he was a slave," he explained. And "St Peter tells us: 'be filled with joy', exult with joy". Peter's expression is "strong": "Fill with joy, exult with joy".

But "what is joy?" asked Francis, referring to that joy "which Peter asks us to have and which the young man could not have because he was a prisoner of other interests". The Pope defined 'Christian joy' as 'the breath of the Christian'. Because 'a Christian who is not joyful in heart,' he said, 'is not a good Christian'.

Joy then, said the Pontiff, 'is the breath, the way of expression of the Christian'. Moreover, he noted, joy 'is not something you buy or I make with effort: no, it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit'. Because, he recalled, what causes "joy in the heart is the Holy Spirit". There is 'Christian joy if we are in tension between the memory - the memory of being regenerated, as St Peter says, that Jesus saved us - and the hope of what awaits us'. And 'when a person is in this tension, he is joyful'.

But, the Pope warned, "if we forget what the Lord has done for us, to give life, to regenerate us - the word is strong, 'regenerate us', a new creation as the liturgy says - and if we do not look at what awaits us, the encounter with Jesus Christ, if we have no memory, no hope, we cannot have joy". Perhaps 'we have smiles, yes, but joy, no'.

Moreover, Francis reiterated, "one cannot live Christianly without joy, at least in its first degree, which is peace". In fact 'the first step of joy is peace: yes, when trials come, as St Peter says, one suffers; but one comes down and finds peace and that peace no one can take away'. That is why 'the Christian is a man, a woman of joy, a man, a woman of consolation: he knows how to live in consolation, the consolation of the memory of being regenerated and the consolation of the hope that awaits us'. Precisely 'these two make that Christian joy and attitude'.

"Joy is not living from laughter to laughter, no, it is not that," the Pontiff warned. And "joy," he added, "is not being fun, no, it is not that, it is something else". Because "Christian joy is peace, the peace that is in the roots, the peace of the heart, the peace that only God can give us: this is Christian joy". The Pope pointed out that 'it is not easy to preserve this joy'. And 'the Apostle Peter says that it is faith that keeps it: I believe that God has regenerated me, I believe that he will give me that prize'. Precisely 'this is faith, and with this faith you keep joy, you keep consolation'. So 'joy, consolation, but only faith can keep it'.

"We," the Pope acknowledged, "live in a culture that is not joyful, a culture where so many things are invented to amuse us, to have a good time; they offer us little bits of sweet life everywhere". But 'this is not joy,' he explained, 'because joy is not something you buy in the marketplace: it is a gift of the Spirit'.

With this in mind, Francis suggested looking inside oneself, asking oneself: 'What is my heart like? Is it peaceful, is it joyful, is it in consolation?". What's more, the Pontiff relaunched, 'even in the moment of disturbance, in the moment of trial, that heart of mine is a heart that is not restless well, with that restlessness that is not good: there is a good restlessness but there is another that is not good, that of seeking security everywhere, that of seeking pleasure everywhere'. Like 'the young man in the Gospel: he was afraid that if he left the riches he would not be happy'.

Therefore 'joy, consolation' are 'our breath as Christians'. And so, Francis suggested, "let us ask the Holy Spirit to always give us this inner peace, that joy that comes from remembering our salvation, our regeneration and the hope of what awaits us". Because "only in this way can one say 'I am a Christian'". Indeed, there cannot be "a dark, saddened Christian, like this young man who 'at these words became dark in the face, went away saddened'". He certainly "was not a Christian: he wanted to be close to Jesus but he chose his own security, not the security that Jesus gives".

For this reason, the Pope concluded, "we ask the Holy Spirit to give us joy, to give us consolation, at least in the first degree: peace". Aware that "being a man and a woman of joy means being a man and a woman of peace, it means being a man and a woman of consolation: may the Holy Spirit give us this."

[Pope Francis, S. Marta homily, in L'Osservatore Romano 29/05/2018].

Without fear

Fear and sadness make people and even the Church sick, because they paralyse, make them self-centred and end up spoiling the air of communities that display the 'forbidden' sign on the door because they are afraid of everything. Instead, it is joy, which in sorrow comes to be peace, the courageous attitude of the Christian, sustained by the fear of God and the Holy Spirit. This is what the Pope said in the Mass celebrated on Friday 15 May in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta.

In the liturgy of the word, Francis was quick to point out, commenting on the day's readings, "there are two strong words that the Church makes us meditate on: fear and joy. And so - we read in the Acts of the Apostles (18:9-18) - the Lord says to Paul: "Do not be afraid; keep speaking".

"Fear," the Pope explained, "is an attitude that hurts us, weakens us, shrinks us, even paralyses us". So much so that "a person under fear does nothing, does not know what to do: he is fearful, fearful, concentrated on himself so that something bad, ugly does not happen to him". Therefore "fear leads to selfish egocentrism and paralyses". Precisely "for this reason Jesus says to Paul: do not be afraid, continue to speak".

Fear, in fact, 'is not a Christian attitude', but 'is an attitude, we might say, of an imprisoned soul, without freedom, which has no freedom to look forward, to create something, to do good'. And so those who are afraid keep repeating: 'No, there is this danger, there is that other, that other', and so on. "What a pity, fear hurts!" commented Francis again.

Fear, however, 'must be distinguished from the fear of God, with which it has nothing to do'. The fear of God, said the Pontiff, 'is holy, it is the fear of adoration before the Lord, and the fear of God is a virtue'. It, in fact, 'does not shrink, it does not weaken, it does not paralyse'; on the contrary, 'it leads forward towards the mission that the Lord gives'. And in this regard, the Pontiff added: "The Lord, in chapter 18 of Luke's Gospel, speaks of a judge who did not fear God or have regard for anyone, and did whatever he wanted". This "is a sin: the lack of fear of God and also self-sufficiency". Because "it distracts from the relationship with God and also from adoration".

Therefore, Francis said, 'the fear of God, which is good, is one thing; but fear is another thing'. And "a fearful Christian is little: he is someone who has not understood what the message of Jesus is".

The "other word" proposed by the liturgy, "after the Ascension of the Lord", is "joy". In the Gospel passage from John (16:20-23), "the Lord speaks of the passage from sadness to joy", preparing the disciples "for the moment of passion: 'You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will be in sadness, but your sadness will be changed into joy'". Jesus suggests "the example of the woman at the moment of childbirth, who has much pain but afterwards, when the child is born, she forgets about the pain" to make room for joy. "And no one will be able to take your joy away from you," the Lord therefore assures.

But "Christian joy," the Pope warned, "is not mere amusement, it is not a passing joy". Rather, "Christian joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit: it is having a heart that is always joyful because the Lord has overcome, the Lord reigns, the Lord is at the right hand of the Father, the Lord has looked upon me and sent me and given me his grace and made me a son of the Father". This is what 'Christian joy' really is.A Christian, therefore, 'lives in joy'. But, Francis asked, "where is this joy in the saddest moments, in moments of sorrow? Let us think of Jesus on the Cross: did he have joy? Eh no! But yes, he had peace!". In fact, the Pope explained, "joy, in the moment of pain, of trial, becomes peace". Instead, "a joy in the moment of pain becomes darkness, becomes gloom".

That is why 'a Christian without joy is not a Christian; a Christian who lives continuously in sadness is not a Christian'. To "a Christian who loses peace, in the moment of trials, of sickness, of so many difficulties, something is missing".

Francis invited people to "have no fear and have joy", explaining: "To have no fear is to ask for the grace of courage, the courage of the Holy Spirit; and to have joy is to ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit, even in the most difficult moments, with that peace that the Lord gives us".

This is what 'happens in Christians, happens in communities, in the whole Church, in parishes, in many Christian communities'. In fact, "there are fearful communities, who always play it safe: 'No, no, let's not do this...'. No, no, this cannot be done, this cannot be done'". So much so that "it seems that on the entrance door they have written 'forbidden': everything is forbidden out of fear". So 'when you enter that community the air is foul, because the community is sick: fear sickens a community; lack of courage sickens a community'.

But 'even a community without joy is a sick community, because when there is no joy there is emptiness. No, on the contrary: there is fun'. And so, at the end of the day, "it will be a beautiful community that is fun, but worldly, sick of worldliness because it does not have the joy of Jesus Christ". And 'one effect, among others, of worldliness,' the Pontiff warned, 'is to speak ill of others'. Therefore, 'when the Church is fearful and when the Church does not receive the joy of the Holy Spirit, the Church becomes sick, communities become sick, the faithful become sick'.

In the prayer at the beginning of Mass, the Pope recalled, 'we asked the Lord for the grace to lift us up to Christ seated at the right hand of the Father'. It is precisely "the contemplation of Christ seated at the right hand of the Father," he said, "that will give us courage, give us joy, take away our fear, and also help us not to fall into a superficial and amusing life".

"With this intention of raising our spirit towards Christ seated at the right hand of the Father," Francis concluded, "we continue our celebration, asking the Lord: raise our spirit, take away all fear and give us joy and peace.

[Pope Francis, homily s. Marta 15 May 2015; (from: L'Osservatore Romano, daily ed., Anno CLV, no.109, 16/05/2015)]

(Jn 16:2-15)

«He will receive from what is Mine and will proclaim to you [...] He receives from Mine and will announce you» (vv.14-15).

The teaching imparted by Jesus with his life was not incomplete, but a Germ that traced fundamental options, guidelines.

The magisterial insufficiency in the detailed case studies is significant. Christ is not a cast and dead model, but Motivation and Drive.

And God is not a predictor of the future, nor a reassurer - but a vital Presence. Even when in adverse events there seems to be a lack of air.

Indeed, in the right time, crises turn into the spelling of love; into opportunities to experience needs and relationships differently - even paradoxically, for genuine change; from within, natural.

Thus and in that spirit, the disciples began a journey of understanding the facts of Easter, discovering step by step that the story of Christ would embrace all the secrets of God.

In short, the first fraternities noted the “extraordinary” things of living following and ‘inner guidance’.

By living the Master's teaching in the most varied circumstances [favourable and joyful, or sad and at a loss] He made Himself close in the soul; and He manifested Himself, taking the step of the brethren.

A different Light - no longer neutral, standardized, whatever - animated the lives of the faithful and their coexistence.

They experienced a new Birth, like an unceasing Creation.

From the hearts of the believers in the Son of Man - even the formerly maligned ones - gushed forth an unseen Source of reconciliation and harmony of opposites.

A Wisdom of things unknown to the world of empire and other beliefs was emerging.

The Spirit of the Risen One made it possible to understand the critical fruitfulness of the Cross [«the burden»: v.12], thus expanding the solutions and orientations of the conventional competitive life.

Of course there were falls, due to natural precarious conditions, and the fact that it was not immediate to understand the logic of the Crucified One.

But the Action of the Spirit of the «Truth» [God's Faithfulness] illuminated, guided and stimulated a deeper interpretation of the Word of the Lord: not a deposit of crystallized statements.

The sons discovered: that Recall was living, inexhaustible in its meanings and in the possibility of understanding things.

Truth about the Eternal and about humanity, pregnant with existential implications.

Those reborn of water and the Spirit began to perceive it as ‘force’ of events, a real and overwhelming power.

Its intelligence was enriched in history, through assembly events, experiences, dialogues, reflections.

The Spirit of the wounded and Living Christ internalized that Call that renewed women and men, and their relationships.

People who did not even have self-esteem were put back on their feet. The profiteer was becoming righteous, the doubter more confident; the unhappy person was regaining hope.

Everyone in helping each other realized that they could live happily.

The assistance of the total and mystical divine Spirit, even today, guides the access and fullness of facets of the Truth; and is a stimulus for an innovative, democratic, multifaceted, personal understanding.

Banish insecurity.

We can still be in the most acute, energetic and contemplative frankness; in a fidelity of integral reading-interpretation of the Gospels that eschews all accommodation (vv.14-15).

[Wednesday 6th wk. in Easter, May 28, 2025]

(Jn 16:12-15)

«He will receive from Mine and proclaim to you [...] he will receive from Mine and proclaim to you» (vv.14-15).

The teaching imparted by Jesus with his life was not incomplete, but a germ that traced fundamental options, guidelines.

The magisterial insufficiency in the detailed case histories is significant. Christ is not a cast and dead model, but a Motive and Motor.

And God is not a predictor of the future, nor a reassurer - but a vital Presence. Even when in adverse events there seems to be a lack of air.

Although limited in space and time, his story and Word still germinates the guiding lines of an alternative world, empathetic even in the drama of bad times.

The complete Truth of the Lord (including the meaning of his death) is not about quantity - the number of truths, prescriptions: it is in fieri.

'Truth' itself demands to be deepened, intensified, made qualitative, totalising.

The writings of the New Testament attest to the action of the Spirit, who starting from archaic community situations (Mk) increasingly refines and reveals the sense of what "is to come" (v.13).

In the personal and ecclesial sequelae also extra moenia - it is about the possibility of an ever sharper understanding on our part.

We are not repositories of an aptitude for divination - of course - but for discernment [now capable of appreciating even deviations].

We are given a faculty to grasp the genius of time, even in imbalance and uprooting.

This is in relation to the disciples' capacity to correspond to the vocation that welcomes the new: a slow paradoxical glorification; for them too, 'the way of elevation'.

The penetration of the Mystery and the history of salvation, which had its apex and germinal source in Jesus of Nazareth, acquires more and more surprising clarity; new ways of being.

We discover in the Faith that our life can broaden the horizon. It is not carried out in function of God, as in archaic religions, which cage... but the other way around.

Christ speaks not of new truths, but of 'complete truth': specifically concerning the face of Heaven within; the profile of the integral and authentic woman and man; the character of the new society.

One of the ways in which the early Christians experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit was through prophecy, made fruitful by even unpleasant events that incessantly forced them to exodus, to move, to turn their gaze - thus overcoming the fear of growing.

One had to remain... only in individual or ecclesial frankness. 

If anyone had to 'isolate' themselves from the common mentality, it was to rediscover their deep roots, to interrupt the artificial behaviour ready to barter values.

Gradually the community brothers experienced the depth and total dimension of the teaching received.

Even persecutions and 'crosses' were not eradicated hastily.

In the right time, crises were transformed into the spelling of love; into opportunities to experience needs and relationships differently - even paradoxically, for genuine change; from within, natural.

In this perspective, every event was always better understood, internalised, assimilated and made one's own as the historical call of the God who reveals himself.

In the events of the early days, all the situations in which the Church will always find itself are revealed.

In this way and in that spirit, the disciples began a journey of understanding the facts of Easter.

The Lord's intimates were discovering step by step that the story of Christ would embrace all the secrets of God.

In short, the first fraternities observed the "extraordinary" things of living following and 'inner guidance'.

By living the Master's teaching in the most varied circumstances [favourable and joyful, or sad and at a loss] He made Himself close in the soul; and He manifested Himself, taking the step of the brethren.

A different Light - no longer neutral, standardised, whatever - animated the lives of the faithful and their coexistence.

They experienced a new Birth, like an unceasing Creation.

From the hearts of the believers in the Son of Man - even those who had previously been maligned - there gushed forth an unprecedented Source of conciliation and harmony of opposites. 

A Wisdom of things unknown to the world of empire and other beliefs was emerging.

The Spirit of the Risen One made it possible to understand the critical fruitfulness of the Cross ["the burden": v.12], thus expanding the solutions and orientations of the conventional competitive life.

Of course there were falls, due to natural precariousness, and to the fact that it was not immediate to understand the logic of the Crucified One.

But the Action of the Spirit of "Truth" [God's Faithfulness] enlightened, guided and stimulated them to interpret the Word of the Lord more deeply: not a storehouse of crystallised statements.The children discovered that that Call was living, inexhaustible in its meanings and in the possibility of understanding things.

Truth about the Eternal and humanity, pregnant with existential implications.

Those reborn of water and the Spirit began to perceive it as a force of events, a real and overwhelming power.

His intelligence was enriched in history, through assembly events, experiences, dialogues, reflections.

The Spirit of the wounded and Living Christ internalised that Call that renewed women and men, and their relationships.

People who did not even have self-esteem were being revived. The profiteer became righteous, the doubter more secure; the unhappy person began to hope again.

All in mutual help realised that they could live happily.

The assistance of the total and mystical divine Spirit, even today, guides the access and fullness of facets of the Truth; and is a stimulus to an innovative, democratic, multifaceted, personal understanding.

Let us banish insecurity.

We can still be in the sharpest, most energetic and contemplative frankness; in a faithfulness of integral reading-interpretation of the Gospels that eschews all accommodation (vv.14-15).

Here, in speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus explains to us what the Church is and how she should live in order to be herself, to be the place of unity and communion in Truth; he tells us that behaving as Christians means no longer being shut into our own “I” but rather being open to all things: it means inwardly welcoming the whole Church within ourselves or, even better, inwardly letting her receive us. Therefore when I speak, think and act as a Christian I do not do so by closing myself into myself, but I always do so in all things and starting with all things: thus the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of unity and of truth, may continue to resonate in our human hearts and minds and spur people to meet and to welcome each other.

Precisely because the Spirit acts in this way, he ushers us into the whole truth, which is Jesus, and guides us to look at it more deeply and to understand it. We do not grow in knowledge by locking ourselves into own ego but only in an attitude of profound inner humility do we become capable of listening and sharing in the “we” of the Church. And in this way it becomes clearer why Babel is Babel and Pentecost is Pentecost. Wherever people want to set themselves up as God they cannot but set themselves against each other. Instead, wherever they place themselves in the Lord’s truth they are open to the action of his Spirit who sustains and unites them.

[Pope Benedict, homily 27 May 2012]

1. We have often quoted the words of Jesus, who in his farewell discourse addressed to the apostles in the Upper Room promises the coming of the Holy Spirit as a new and definitive defender and consoler: "I will pray to the Father and he will give you another Paraclete to abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees nor knows him" (Jn 14:16-17). That "farewell discourse", located in the solemn account of the Last Supper (cf. Jn 13:2), is a source of prime importance for pneumatology, i.e. for the theological discipline concerning the Holy Spirit. Jesus speaks of him as the Paraclete, who "proceeds" from the Father, and whom the Father will "send" to the apostles and the Church "in the name of the Son", when the Son himself "goes away", "at the price" of the departure accomplished through the sacrifice of the Cross.

We must take into consideration the fact that Jesus calls the Paraclete the "Spirit of Truth". Also at other times he called him this (cf. Jn 15:26; Jn 16:13).

2. Let us bear in mind that in the same "farewell discourse" Jesus, responding to a question from the apostle Thomas about his identity, asserts of himself: "I am the way, the truth and the life" (Jn 14:6). From this twofold reference to truth that Jesus makes to define both himself and the Holy Spirit, one deduces that if the Paraclete is called by him the "Spirit of truth", this means that the Holy Spirit is the one who, after Christ's departure, will maintain among the disciples the same truth, which he proclaimed and revealed and, indeed, which he himself is. The Paraclete, in fact, is the truth, as Christ is. John says it in his first letter: "It is the Holy Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth" (John 5, 6). In the same letter, the Apostle also writes: "We are of God. He who knows God listens to us; he who is not of God does not listen to us. From this we distinguish the spirit of truth and the spirit of error ("spiritus erroris")" (Jn 4:6). The mission of the Son and that of the Holy Spirit meet, are connected and complement each other in the affirmation of truth and the victory over error. The fields of action in which they operate are the human spirit and world history. The distinction between truth and error is the first moment of this work.

3. Remaining in the truth and working in the truth is the essential problem for the apostles and disciples of Christ, both of the early times and of all the new generations of the Church throughout the centuries. From this point of view, the proclamation of the Spirit of truth is of key importance. Jesus says in the Upper Room: "Many things I have yet to say to you, but for the moment (yet) you are not able to bear the burden of them" (Jn 16:12). Actually, Jesus' messianic mission lasted only a short time, too short to reveal to the disciples all the contents of Revelation. And not only was time short, but the preparation and intelligence of the listeners was also limited. Several times it is said that the apostles themselves "were astonished within themselves" (cf. Mk 6:52), and "did not understand" (cf. e.g. Mk 8:21), or understood Christ's words and works in a distorted way (cf. e.g. Mt 16:6-11).

Thus the Master's words are explained in all the fullness of their meaning: "When . . . the Spirit of truth will come, he will guide you into all truth" (Jn 16:13).

4. The first confirmation of this promise of Jesus will occur at Pentecost and in the days that follow, as the Acts of the Apostles attest. But the promise does not only concern the apostles and their immediate companions in evangelisation, but also future generations of Christ's disciples and confessors. For the Gospel is destined for all nations and the ever new generations, which will develop in the context of different cultures and the manifold progress of human civilisation. Looking across the whole range of history Jesus says: "The Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me". "He will 'bear witness', that is, he will show the true meaning of the Gospel within the Church, so that she may proclaim it authentically to the whole world. Always and everywhere, even in the interminable vicissitudes of things that change as they develop in the life of humanity, the "Spirit of truth" will guide the Church "into all truth" (John 16: 13).

5. The relationship between the Revelation communicated by the Holy Spirit and that of Jesus is very close. This is not a different, heterogeneous Revelation. This can be inferred from a detail of the language used by Jesus in his promise: "The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (Jn 14:26). Remembering is the function of memory. By remembering, one returns to what has already been, to what has been said and done, thus renewing past things in the consciousness, and almost reviving them. Since it is especially the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of a truth charged with divine power, his mission is not exhausted in remembering the past as such: by "remembering" the words, works and the entire salvific mystery of Christ, the Spirit of truth makes him continually present in the Church, ensures that he is ever more "present" in the community of salvation. Thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, the Church not only remembers the truth, but abides and lives in the truth received from her Lord. This also fulfils Christ's words: "He (the Holy Spirit) will bear witness to me" (Jn 15:26). This witness of the Spirit of truth is thus identified with the ever-living presence of Christ, with the working power of the Gospel, with the increasing implementation of Redemption, with a continuous illustration of truth and virtue. In this way the Holy Spirit "guides" the Church "into all truth".

6. This truth is present, at least implicitly, in the Gospel. What the Holy Spirit will reveal has already been said by Christ. He himself reveals this when, speaking of the Holy Spirit, he emphasises that "he will not speak of himself, but will say whatever he has heard . . . He will glorify me, for he will take of mine and proclaim it to you" (John 16: 13-14). The Christ, glorified by the Spirit of truth, is first of all that same crucified Christ, stripped of everything and almost "annihilated" in his humanity for the redemption of the world. It was precisely by the power of the Holy Spirit that the "word of the Cross" had to be accepted by the disciples, to whom the Master himself had said: "For the moment (yet) you are not able to bear its burden" (Jn 16:12). There stood before those poor men the screen of the Cross. Deep action was needed to make their minds and hearts capable of discovering the "glory of redemption" that was accomplished in the Cross. Divine intervention was needed to convince and inwardly transform each one of them, in preparation, first of all, for the day of Pentecost, and then for the apostolic mission to the world. And Jesus warns them that the Holy Spirit "will glorify me, for he will take of mine and proclaim it to you". Only the Spirit, who, according to St Paul (1 Cor 2:10), "searches the depths of God", knows the mystery of the Son-Werbo in his filial relationship with the Father and in his redemptive relationship with men of all times. He alone, the Spirit of truth, can open human minds and hearts, making them capable of accepting the unfathomable mystery of God and His incarnate, crucified and risen Son, Jesus Christ the Lord.

7. Jesus says again: "The Spirit of truth . . . he will proclaim to you the things to come" (Jn 16:13). What does this prophetic and eschatological projection mean, by which Jesus places under the ray of the Holy Spirit the entire future of the Church, the entire historical journey that she is called to make over the centuries? It means a going forth to meet the glorious Christ, towards whom she is stretched out in the invocation raised by the Spirit: "Come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev 22:17. 20). The Holy Spirit leads the Church towards constant progress in the understanding of revealed truth. He watches over the pursuit of that truth, its preservation, its application to changing historical situations. He arouses and leads the development of everything that serves the knowledge and dissemination of this truth: in particular, the exegesis of Sacred Scripture and theological research, which can never be separated from the direction of the Spirit of truth nor from the Magisterium of the Church, in which the Spirit is always at work.

Everything takes place in faith and through faith, under the action of the Spirit, as is said in the encyclical Dominum et Vivificantem: "The Mysterium Christi in its totality demands faith, since it is this that appropriately introduces man into the reality of the revealed mystery. Leading to the whole truth is accomplished, therefore, in faith and through faith: which is the work of the Spirit of truth and is the fruit of His action in man. The Holy Spirit must be in this the supreme guide of man, the light of the human spirit. This applies to the apostles, eyewitnesses, who must now bring to all men the proclamation of what Christ 'did and taught' and, especially, of his Cross and Resurrection. In a more distant perspective, this also applies to all generations of the Master's disciples and confessors, since they will have to accept with faith and confess with frankness the mystery of God at work in human history, the revealed mystery that explains the definitive meaning of that history" (Dominum et Vivificantem, 6).

In this way the 'Spirit of truth' continually announces future things; He continually shows mankind this future of God, which is above and beyond all "temporal" futures: and thus fills the future of the world with eternal value. Thus the Spirit convinces man, making him realise that, with all that he is, and has, and does, he is called by God in Christ to salvation. Thus the "Paraclete", the Spirit of truth, is the true "Comforter" of man. Thus is the true Defender and Advocate. Thus he is the true Guarantor of the Gospel in history: under his influence the Good News is always "the same" and is always "new"; and in an ever new way he enlightens man's path in the perspective of heaven with "words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68).

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 17 May 1989]

"The Copts who had their throats slit because they were Christians" died "with the name of Jesus on their lips" because they had fully understood "the scandal of the cross". But "the martyrial road" is part of the daily life of every Christian, even in the family, in the defence of people's rights, in the experience of illness. And it is the Holy Spirit who helps to know how to bear witness and to welcome "the whole truth". Pope Francis said this in the Mass celebrated on Monday 11 May in the chapel of the Santa Marta house, also recalling that he had telephoned Coptic Patriarch Tawadros on Sunday on the occasion of Friendship Day between Copts and Catholics, the second anniversary of the meeting that took place in the Vatican on 10 May 2013.

"In today's first prayer" at the beginning of the Mass, the Pontiff said, "we asked for the grace to make the fruitfulness of Easter ever present". And indeed, he explained, 'Easter is fruitful' because 'it is the life that Jesus Christ, the Lord, has given us through his cross and resurrection'. But "how is this fruitfulness implemented?" The answer, Francis noted, is found in the Gospel of John (15:26-16.4) proposed by the liturgy today.

In practice, "the Lord prepares his disciples for the future". And "there is a word that may seem a little strange: scandalise". Jesus says, according to John: "I have told you these things so that you will not be scandalised". The question to be understood is: "Of what scandal is Jesus speaking? The scandal of the persecutions that will come, the scandal of the cross?".

The Lord 'adds a promise' by saying: 'When the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will bear witness'. And then, "always in the same discourse", he goes on to say: "I have many things to say to you, but right now you are not able to carry the weight of them; but when the Paraclete comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all truth". In short, the Pope explained, Jesus "speaks to us of the future, of the cross that awaits us, and he speaks to us of the Spirit, who prepares us to give Christian witness".

Moreover, continued Francis, "in these days the Church makes us reflect so much on the Holy Spirit: Jesus says that the Holy Spirit who will come, whom he will send, will guide us to the full truth, that is, he will teach us the things that I have not yet taught, these things that he - added the Pope quoting today's Gospel passage - must say and of which they, the disciples, are not yet able to bear the burden". Furthermore, the Lord also says that "the Spirit will make you remember the things that I have said and that with life have fallen into oblivion". And here, Francis explained, "is what the Spirit does: he makes us remember the words of Jesus and teaches us the things that Jesus was not yet able to tell us, because we were not able to understand them".

"Thus the life of the Church is a journey guided by the Spirit who reminds us and teaches us, who leads us to the whole truth," he emphasised. And 'this Spirit, who is our companion, also defends us from the scandal of the cross'. St Paul, speaking to the Corinthians, says: "But the Cross is foolishness, for those who go to perdition". Then he resumes and adds: "The Jews ask for signs". And "really how many times in the Gospel did the Jews, the doctors of the law, ask Jesus" to give them "a sign". For their part, "the Greeks, that is, the pagans, ask for wisdom, new ideas". But "we preach only Christ crucified, scandal for you - for the Jews - and foolishness for the Gentiles".

The Cross of Christ, therefore, is the scandal. For this reason, the Pope clarified, "Jesus prepares the hearts of his disciples with the promise of the Paraclete, for what will happen to them". And he says: "I have told you these things so that you should not be scandalised" by the cross of Christ. John reports these words of the Lord: 'They will drive you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will believe that he is worshipping God'. And we today, the Pontiff noted, 'are witnesses to these who kill Christians in the name of God because they are unbelievers, according to them'. This "is the cross of Christ". Here is the relevance of Jesus' words in the Gospel of the day's liturgy: "They will do this, because they have known neither the Father nor me". Jesus thus reminds us that what happened to him will also happen to us: "the persecutions, the tribulations". That is why we should not be scandalised, knowing that "it will be the Spirit who will guide us and make us understand".

"Yesterday," Francis then confided, "I had the joy of phoning the Coptic Patriarch Tawadros, because it was the day of Coptic-Catholic friendship: we talked about some things". But, he added, "I remembered his faithful, who had their throats slit on the beach because they were Christians. These believers, by the power given to them by the Holy Spirit, were not scandalised. They died with the name of Jesus on their lips. It is the power of the Spirit. The testimony. True, this is martyrdom, the supreme witness'.

There is also, the Pope continued, 'the testimony of every day, the testimony of making present the fruitfulness of Easter - which we asked for today at the beginning of the Mass - that fruitfulness that the Holy Spirit gives us, which guides us towards the full truth, the whole truth, and makes us remember what Jesus tells us'.

Therefore, remarked Francis, "a Christian who does not take this 'martyrial' dimension of life seriously has not yet understood the path that Jesus taught us: the 'martyrial' path of every day; the 'martyrial' path of defending people's rights; the 'martyrial' path of defending children: fathers and mothers defending their families; the 'martyrial' path of many, many sick people who suffer for the love of Jesus. We all have the possibility of carrying on this Easter fruitfulness on this 'martyr' path, without scandalising ourselves".

Continuing the Eucharistic celebration - "memorial of that cross" in which "the paschal fruitfulness is made present" - the Pontiff asked "the Lord for the grace to receive the Holy Spirit who will make us remember the things of Jesus, who will guide us to the whole truth and prepare us every day to bear this witness, to give this little martyrdom every day or a great martyrdom, according to the will of the Lord".

[Pope Francis, S. Marta homily, in L'Osservatore Romano 12/05/2015]

(Jn 16:5-11)

In ancient times, there were no lawyers, and one had to defend oneself by finding witnesses.

The defendant could be guilty but worthy of pardon, or innocent yet unable to show evidence.

In such cases, acquittal was secured by an esteemed person from the audience, who stood up from the assembly and silently stood beside the accused, vouching for him and thus justifying him.

It is the action of the Spirit, in Jn referred to as the 'Paraclete': «called alongside».

Jesus was condemned by the experienced masters of official religion as deranged, heretical and an unforgivable sinner.

It is to be expected that those who renounce simulation and accept Christ as Lord of their lives will also be judged in the same way.

By betting everything, he will soon feel alive and deep down his identity of destiny with Him.

But in us there is a silent force of conviction that harmonizes even accusations, that frees us from externally induced tensions.

Correspondence that reweaves the threads of the vocational web.

Tunefulness that brings the soul back to the inner concert, for the mission; and gets the soul going again even after the drudgery of idiotic harassment.

Such intimate and friendly power is not related to obstinacy, but to listening to oneself.

There is an inner world of 'doors-opening Presence'.

It has a secret power of authority, devoid of verdicts or impositions, that releases the soul from the relentless struggle against adversity.

And one willingly relies on such silent virtue: of independent Life, which emerges, and comes.

«Sin» (vv.8-9) is in fact the inability to accept the Call to follow one's own Seed, one's own Core, one's own character that detests the dirigisme of others, the efforts, the noise.

Nucleus that weaves its roots into the ground, then into the space around it. And infallibly guides one to realization - as well as correspondence.

Thus bearing witness to the unrepeatable personal Calling.

By Way, the authentic disciple will understand that the Lord has condoned his «sin», that is, He has erased the humiliation of the unbridgeable distances [between creaturely condition and perfection].

«Justice»: divine justice is not retributive, because it would distinguish "mine" from "yours".

And from division to division, it would lead to the worst injustices.

The Father acts by creating: He «makes» Justice where there is none.

He places us in positions that conform to being and essence. He lays appropriate relationships where they do not yet exist.

In short, Love remains unbalanced: it stands on the erratic side of the free Gift, which is not kept at bay.

Rather, it rewrites the whole story. With much of Excessive.

«Judgement» that communicates his life-giving Spirit (Jn 19:30) and annihilates the accusations decreed by the «world» of convenience.

From where? From the Cross.

Same point from which he who is enlightened by the Spirit who overcomes interest and death, heals and frees from fetters.

The believer knows how to be with himself in a different way; without censoring himself.

By regenerating himself and uplifting the lives of many sisters and brothers.

[Tuesday 6th wk. in Easter, May 27, 2025]

(Jn 16:5-11)

In ancient times there were no lawyers, and one had to defend oneself by finding witnesses.

The accused could be e.g. guilty but worthy of pardon, or innocent yet unable to show evidence.

In such cases, absolution was secured by an esteemed person from the audience, who rose from the assembly and stood silently beside the accused, vouching for him and thus justifying him.

This is the action of the Spirit, in Jn referred to as the Paraclete: 'called alongside'.

Jesus was condemned by the experienced masters of the official religion as a lunatic, a heretic, and an unforgivable sinner.

It is to be expected that those who renounce simulation and accept Christ as Lord of their lives will also be judged in the same way: they will feel their identity of destiny with Him.

But in us there is a silent force of conviction that harmonises even accusations, that frees us from externally induced tensions.

Correspondence that reknots the threads of the vocational weave, that brings the soul back to the inner concert, for the mission; and makes one restart even after the labours of idiotic harassment.

This intimate and friendly power is not related to obstinacy, but to listening to oneself - outside of any local, cultural, social or religious conditioning parameters.

All for the task at hand, and without exhausting our sharp energy in direct confrontations.

There is an inner world of Presence that opens doors.

It has a secret power of authority (devoid of judgement or imposition) that releases the soul from the incessant struggle against adversity.

And one gladly relies on such silent virtue: of the independent life that emerges and comes.

'Sin' (vv.8-9) is in fact the inability to accept the Call to follow one's own Seed, one's own Core, one's own 'will' that detests others' dirigisme, efforts, noise.

A kernel that weaves its roots into the ground, and unerringly leads to realisation - as well as correspondence.

Thus testifying to the unrepeatable personal Calling, Pearl without even a heap of pain and obstinacy.

By Way the authentic disciple will understand that the Lord has condoned his 'sin', that is, he has erased the humiliation of the unbridgeable gap [between creaturely condition and perfection].

The latter attribute preached by common religiosity; so grown-up, accommodated, hypocritical and installed that it prevents us from becoming human.

Sinfulness in the moralistic [not theological] sense is something else.

"Justice": divine justice is not retributive, for it would distinguish mine from yours. And from division to division he would fall into the worst injustices.

The Father acts by creating: He makes Justice where there is none; He places in conformed positions, He places debts where they do not yet exist.

In short, Love remains unbalanced: it stands on the irregular side of the free Gift, which is not kept at bay.

Rather, it rewrites the whole story. With much of excess.

It is not the mercy of merits: the mereor ("mereor" is in fact the root of "meretriciousness").

"Thence shall he come to judge" - recites the Apostles' Creed: from where? The divine Judgement is not the banal, weighted one of intimist customs.

"Judgement" in the evangelical sense is the active, personal and intimate invitation of Jesus, who gives himself completely, down to the last drop of blood; who communicates his life-giving Spirit (Jn 19:30) and annihilates the accusations decreed by the "world" of convenience.

From where? From the Cross.

The same point from which he who is enlightened by the Spirit who overcomes interest and death, heals and frees from the fetters of 'ne quid nimis' [nothing too much].

The true believer knows how to be with himself in a different way. Regenerating the lives of so many brothers and sisters.

To internalise and live the message:

Do you know the error of "the world"?

Do you defend yourself by your own standards or do you allow yourself to be exonerated?

Retired in soul, pagan sadness

"Either you are young at heart, young at soul, or you are not fully Christian". The homily of the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis at Santa Marta on the morning of Tuesday, 28 May, was a veritable hymn to life, vitality, the "youthfulness of the Spirit", to be contrasted with the weary drift of so many people "retired" in soul, dejected by difficulties and sadness because "sin grows old". A breath of joy based on the "great gift that Jesus left us": the Holy Spirit.

The starting point for the Pontiff's reflection was the Gospel passage of the day (John, 16, 5-11) that reported an excerpt of the farewell speech to the apostles during the Last Supper. On that occasion Jesus "says many things", but "the heart of this discourse is the Holy Spirit". The Lord, in fact, offers his friends a veritable "catechesis on the Holy Spirit": he begins by noting their state of mind - "Because I have said this I am leaving, sadness has filled your heart" - and "he gently rebukes them" because, the Pope noted, "sadness is not a Christian attitude".

The inner turmoil of the apostles - who, faced with the drama of Jesus and the uncertainty about the future, "begin to understand the drama of the passion" - can be compared to the reality of every Christian. In this regard, Francis recalled how in the Collect Prayer of the day "we asked

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 to the Lord that He may maintain in us renewed youthfulness of spirit", thus raising an invocation "against sadness in prayer". This, he added, is precisely the point: "The Holy Spirit ensures that there is always this youthfulness in us, which is renewed every day by his presence".

Expanding on this concept, the Pontiff recalled: "A great saint said that a sad saint is a sad saint; a sad Christian is a sad Christian: he does not go". that "sadness does not enter the heart of the Christian", because he "is young". A youthfulness that is renewed and that "makes him carry on his shoulders so many trials, so many difficulties". This," he explained, referring to the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (16:22-34), "happened, for example, to Paul and Silas who were beaten and imprisoned by the magistrates in Philippi. At that juncture, the Pope said, "the Holy Spirit enters and renews everything, makes everything new; even makes the jailer young".

The Holy Spirit, therefore, is the one "who accompanies us in life, who sustains us. As expressed by the name Jesus gives him: "Paraclete". An unusual term, the meaning of which often escapes many. The Pontiff also joked about this, recounting a short anecdote about a mass he celebrated when he was a parish priest: "There were more or less 250-300 children, it was a Pentecost Sunday and so I asked them: "Who knows who the Holy Spirit is?". And all: "Me, me!" - "You": "the paralytic," he said. He had heard 'Paraclete' and did not understand what it was" and so said: "paralytic". A funny mispronunciation that however, Francis said, reveals a reality: 'So many times we think that the Holy Spirit is a paralytic, who does nothing.... And instead it is the one who sustains us'.

In fact, the Pontiff explained, "the word paraclete means 'the one who is beside me to support me' so that I do not fall, so that I go forward, so that I retain this youthfulness of the Spirit". That is why "the Christian is always young: always. And when a Christian's heart begins to grow old, his vocation as a Christian begins to diminish. Either you are young at heart, young at soul, or you are not fully Christian".

Some might be frightened of the difficulties and say, "But how can I...?": there is the Spirit. The Spirit will help you in this renewed youthfulness'. This does not mean that sorrows are lacking. Paul and Silas, for example, suffered greatly from the beating they received: "the text says that when the jailer saw that miracle, he wanted to convert them and took them to his house and healed their wounds with oil... ugly, strong wounds...". But despite the pain, they "were full of joy, they sang.... This is youth. A youthfulness that makes you always look forward to hope'.

And how is this youthfulness achieved? "It takes," said the Pope, "a daily dialogue with the Holy Spirit, who is always beside us". It is the Spirit 'the great gift that Jesus left us: this support, which keeps you going'. And so, to those who say: 'Oh yes, Father, it is true, but you know, I am a sinner, I have many, many bad things in my life and I cannot...', you can answer:

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 "All right: look at your sins; but look at the Spirit who is beside you and speak to the Spirit: he will be your support and give you back your youth". Because, he added, "we all know that sin grows old: it grows old. It ages the soul, it ages everything. Instead, the Spirit helps us to repent, to leave sin aside and to move forward with that youthfulness."

Therefore Francis urged to leave aside what he called "pagan sadness", explaining: "I do not say that life is a carnival: no, that is not true. In life there are crosses, there are difficult moments. But in these difficult moments we feel that the Spirit helps us to go forward, like Paul and Silas, and to overcome difficulties. Even martyrdom. Because there is this renewed youthfulness'.

The conclusion of the homily was then an invitation to prayer: 'Let us ask the Lord not to lose this renewed youthfulness, not to be retired Christians who have lost their joy and do not allow themselves to be carried on... The Christian never retires; the Christian lives, lives because he is young - when he is a true Christian".

(Pope Francis, homily s. Martha; https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/cotidie/2019/documents/papa-francesco-cotidie_20190528_santamarta.pdf)

The Lord promises the disciples His Holy Spirit [...] Jesus told his disciples everything, and God can give no more than himself. In Jesus, God gave us his whole self, that is, he gave us everything. As well as or together with this, there can be no other revelation which can communicate more or in some way complete the Revelation of Christ. In him, in the Son, all has been said to us, all has been given.

But our understanding is limited: thus, the Spirit's mission is to introduce the Church, in an ever new way from generation to generation, into the greatness of Christ's mystery. The Spirit places nothing different or new beside Christ; no pneumatic revelation comes with the revelation of Christ - as some say -, no second level of Revelation.

No: "He will have received from me...", Christ says in the Gospel (Jn 16: 14). And as Christ says only what he hears and receives from the Father, thus the Holy Spirit is the interpreter of Christ. "He will have received from me". He does not lead us to other places, far from Christ, but takes us further and further into Christ's light. Consequently, Christian Revelation is both ever old and new. Thus, all things are and always have been given to us. At the same time, every generation, in the inexhaustible encounter with the Lord - an encounter mediated by the Holy Spirit - always learns something new.

[Pope Benedict, homily possession Cathedra Romana 7 May 2005]