My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

We are approaching Pentecost, the coming of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity who will be with us until the end of time.  As Jesus promised in today’s Gospel: “If you love me and obey my commands, I will ask the Father and He will give you another Paraclete, to be with you always, the Spirit of truth.”  How can we live up with the Holy Spirit?

First of all, we have to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit in every moment of our daily lives.  If not, we are not who we are now at this moment!  In looking at our Church history, we should see how the promise of Jesus has been fulfilled.  There were heretics and schismatics who threatened the very continuance of the Church as God’s faithful people on earth.  There were crises and near-catastrophes caused by the human weaknesses of its heads and its members, yet the Church survived and spread and continued to send saints to heaven because of the direct and active aid of the Holy Spirit.  Secondly, we should know and admit our weaknesses and waywardness of human nature; we easily fall into sins and cause death.  God our Father and through the Son sent the Holy Spirit to remain not just with the Church but also within each one of us as the teacher, consoler, protector and guide until the last person has entered heaven.  Thirdly we should believe that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete or the Spirit of Truth, is a “Real Someone” who helps us, even in the context of a legal trial.  For example, a Paraclete could be a lawyer or a witness on our behalf.  A Paraclete must be convincing to the judge or jury, or He would not help us win the case.  However, the Paraclete whom the Father sends us is not accepted by the world “since it neither sees Him nor recognizes Him.”  Therefore the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, might not help us win our case on earth; rather, He is with us and within us so we will have the strength to remain faithful when unjustly persecuted or condemned.  The Paraclete will make us holy so that on the final judgment day, Jesus the judge will give the verdict: “Well done!  You are a good and faithful servant!  Come, you have my Father’s Blessing!  Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.”

Let us pray together: Come Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.  Please help us be acquitted in the final judgment, even though we may be condemned in the world’s trial.  Praise and glory to the Father who sent us the Holy Spirit.  Praise Jesus who died and came to life again, that He could be Lord of both the dead and the living.  Praise the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete; come and renew the face of the earth.

With love,
Fr. Thuong Hoai Nguyen