Sixth Sunday of Easter; Readings  ACTS 8:5-8, 14-17, 1 PT 3:15-18, JN 14:15-21

 

I knew a young man who loved his church and continued to go to Mass every Sunday after his confirmation. I worked with him, and I played softball on the same team as him for many years. He was a good friend while I was in Connecticut. I have lost touch with him over the years as I have moved around the country.

 

This young man always made sure he went to Mass on Sunday, and if we had a game Sunday morning, he would go on Saturday evening. He even missed a game or two because he went to Mass. His teammates knew this, yet we would still occasionally give him a hard time about it. He would just shrug his shoulders and tell all of us that he believed in Christ and this was his way of making sure he showed it.

 

With this example in front of me, a person who was not nearly as consistent, I saw in him a peace that was hard to understand. I would ask him about it from time to time, but was never satisfied with the answer, “Knowing Christ and feeling his Spirit within me keeps me peaceful.”

 

The Holy Spirit is a powerful ally in this life. When we are troubled, the Spirit can be there to remind us that we are not alone. We hear today some stories about the Spirit, who is the third person of the Holy Trinity.

The Spirit is called down on those who are confirmed, and Bishops are the ordinary clergy who do this. Philip in the reading from Acts is obviously not a Bishop as he called the disciples down to confirm the people he had baptized. Phillip, however, had this same peace my friend showed which when the people of Samaria heard him speak and witnessed his demeanor, they were ready to receive Christ and his message.

 

This message of hope and peace is brought out again with the letter from St. Peter. We are called to be able to explain our reason for hope even if we are derided for our actions. This hope comes from knowing we are following Christ and he has died so that we may live. This is one of the main points we are to take away from the Easter season.

 

This message of hope, peace, love and respect which Jesus teaches should live on in each and every one of us. When we begin to lose hope we can regain it fairly simply, sit and listen to the Lord. While it may be simple, it is certainly not easy in today’s world. During the time of Jesus and the disciples, there were fewer distractions than there are today. For that matter when I was young there were a lot fewer distractions than there are today. I know some of the young people don’t want to hear this, but there was no such thing as a personal computer, a cell phone, the internet or any of the other modern conveniences that allow almost instantaneous satisfaction. I was even privileged enough to have not had cable available to have 200 channels to choose from and still nothing to watch on TV, one tidbit, I did not even have a TV in my house until I was around 8 or 9 years old, and then I was the remote and antenna adjustor.

 

We could find time to be quiet and still with little to no noise to interfere with our thoughts. This did not stop me however from ignoring the voice of God for many years. The Spirit was always there. I simply chose to ignore it. In the quiet when it would begin to make its way to the forefront of my mind, I would find something to distract me, and not always good things.

 

Jesus calls us to follow his commandments in the Gospel reading today. He knew even his disciples would need help so he told them he would send them an Advocate, the Spirit of Truth for them to lean on when following his teaching. We all have access to that same Spirit today. Later this week some of our young people will receive the sacrament of confirmation, where the Bishop will ask the Holy Spirit to come and dwell within them. I hope and pray that they listen to the words and follow the commandments, but if they stumble, they should know that the Spirit will always be there. I also want to remind all of us that confirmation is not the end of our learning about our faith, but just the beginning for us to want to continue learning. Like everything else in life our faith only grows and deepens as we learn more about why we believe what we do.

As you may have figured out by now, I finally started to listen to the Holy Spirit within me, of course, this took another beautiful example to emulate. When I finally sat still and began to listen there were many things which scared the daylights out of me. God was asking me to stretch myself, even though I felt unworthy, in ways that I thought meant only for the “goody two shoes” among us. As I soon found out, He is more than willing to wait until you are ready to hear what he wants to say.

 

This lesson of hope and peace is something that needs to be shown more and more in our world. We need to get back to having the capability of civil discussions about our differences so that we can come to understand. We are all individuals who are influenced by those around us, some good, some bad.

 

I have been lucky enough to have been influenced by many good people over the years, including my friend, who I had always admired because of his conviction and hope. The Holy Spirit will always be there for us, even when we choose to ignore it or wish it would simply go away. If we listen to it, we will know the Truth that following his commandments is actually easy, even though it is counter-cultural.

 

Of course, in order to listen to the Spirit, we need to be able to hear it. While it is difficult today it is not impossible, we can all find ways to silence our minds and heart. We just need to be willing to do so. While I dreaded the silent retreat I was required to do before ordination, I was able to find that peace and hope we all long for. I continue to look for those opportunities to find a peaceful calming place to listen and see if it is time for me to receive an answer to my prayers. This, however, does not occur if we expect the answer instantaneously. All answers come in His time, not ours, but we need to be ready to receive them as well.