THE COMING OF THE COMFORTER

VI EASTER SUNDAY - John 14:15-21

Confirmed with the Holy Spirit

During Easter Time, we read the book of the Acts of the Apostles. in which we find the beginning of the Church and then the proclamation of the gospel and life of the first Christian communities. It was in Jerusalem that the Apostles first preached the Gospel and it was there that the first Christian community emerged. And it seems that they cared little about announcing the message of Jesus Christ to all nations of the world. However, little by little, the Holy Spirit forced them out. After the death of Stephen, “a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.” (Act 8:1) And so the evangelisation of Samaria began. Later one, the Holy Spirit would force them to open the doors to the gentiles, welcoming people from everywhere and from every race and nation.

Fleeing Jerusalem, many Christians went to Samaria and Philip started preaching there. Many people converted and were baptised “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Act 8:16). The Apostles, who had remained in Jerusalem, heard about the success of Philip’s mission to the Samaritans and sent Peter and John to confirm them in the faith “and prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit, for as yet he had not come down on any of them” (Act 8:16).

The Spirit of truth

The proclamation of the Gospel, once accepted, is followed by the baptism, but for full communion with the Church and within the Church, there is need of confirmation in the faith with the receiving of the Holy Spirit, and that was done by the Apostles. The Apostles confirmed them and gave them the Holy Spirit by praying for them and laying their hands on them.

The sending of the Holy Spirit was promised by Christ as the “Advocate (Helper or Comforter) to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:16).

Muslims and the Paracletos

The Muslims are convinced that Muhammad was announced in the Bible: "O Children of Israel, I am God's Messenger to you, confirming what preceded me of the Torah, and announcing the good news of a messenger who will come after me, whose name is Ahmad.” (Sura 61, verse 6 of the Quran). And so they use the verse in which Jesus speaks of the coming of the “Paracletos” - the Advocate or the Comforter - as referring to Muhammad.

They arrive at that conclusion by saying that “Paracletos” (παράκλητος) is a corrupted word, which took the place of the original one “Periclytos”, meaning “the praised one”, and that is Muhammad since Muhammad means “the praised one”. The problem is that the word “periclytos” does not appear in the manuscripts and Jesus himself made it very clear that he was speaking about the Holy Spirit.

As the day of Pentecost comes closer, we must prepare ourselves to welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives, so that our hearts may be filled with love, enabling us to be true disciples of Jesus Christ.