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Reflections on the Sixth Sunday of Easter

By Michael Drohan

The readings for this Sunday:

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

1 Peter 3:15-18

John 14:15-21

The readings at Mass this Sunday all speak of the Holy Spirit in one way or another. In the Gospel passage, Jesus tells us he will send us an ‘Advocate' when he goes, the “Spirit of truth” to guide us. In the Acts reading, John and Peter go to Samaria to lay hands on the believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit. In the early Church, in addition to being baptized, it was deemed necessary to receive the Holy Spirit.

The Second Vatican Council in its document Gaudium et Spes on the Church in the Modern World speaks of the importance of being able to read the “signs of the times.” This is one of the most important gifts of the Spirit for us in the world today. Essentially it means that we attempt to dissect the forces at work in the world today and in ourselves, discerning where the spirit of good and evil are at work and aligning ourselves with the former.

It is a formidable task to be able to “read the signs of the times.” In many ways we live in an Orwellian world where the truth is the complete opposite to conventional wisdom and what is believed by the majority. We are told that the present U.S. administration and the governing party won the last Presidential election because of its stand for “moral values.” But this is an administration that led the country into a bloody war that destroyed another country on grounds that they knew were false. This is an administration that talks about spreading democracy around the world, as it tries to undermine many of the elements we associate with democracy and freedom of speech, thought and action. These are very dangerous times that we live in but not for the reasons that are most commonly given. It is not terrorism that is the greatest danger today but the license and excuses that the fight against terrorism has been used to bolster. In the spiritual domain of the Churches, our times are also confusing. On the one hand we have experienced in recent decades significant victories over sexism, homophobia and racism. Nevertheless, most of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious institutions continue to be the most stalwart defenders of patriarchy.

In the midst of the moral confusion and contradictions that bedevil our Church and state institutions, we definitely need the guidance of the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. We all stand deficient and the stakes are high. The very future of humanity is at stake and the “banality of evil” overpowers the environment in which we live.