Last Updated on May 20, 2025 by Editor
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Reflection: Let the Spirit guide you
By SISTER MARY McGLONE
“I’ve thought about it, and I’m right.”
That’s the line the mother of one of our sisters used whenever necessary.
While we might think it’s pretty bold, most of us would have to admit that we often share that often overly confident opinion. Strong conviction is not a bad thing, provided we abandon illusions of infallibility.
Another expression of the potential problem is what New York Times columnist David Brooks described as a crisis of serious thinking. Among other things, he warned that our nation is losing the “ability to reason,” asking, “What happens when people lose the ability to … render good judgments?” In a way, he’s saying that we’re losing the ability to “think about it,” even while we remain convinced that we’re right.
The Sixth Sunday of Easter invites us to think hard and invite the Holy Spirit to draw us beyond any narrowness and the fear of change that makes us cling to the familiar. (Note the first-person plural there!) Today’s Gospel comes from Jesus’ last discourse, John’s record of Jesus’ long dinner conversation on the night of his betrayal. John’s Chapter 14 repeatedly affirms Jesus’ promise that the Spirit will remain with the disciples (us). In Verses 15-16, Jesus says, “I will ask the Father who will give you another Advocate to be with you always.” Today’s Gospel reiterates his promise, saying that the Holy Spirit, “will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have told you.”
Learning from the Spirit underlies our story from Acts. As the Christian community grew, polarization began to fester among them. More Gentiles than Jews were choosing to follow Christ, and that caused some of the original group to worry that newcomers would dilute the true faith. To prevent that, they insisted that everyone entering the church should follow the traditions of pious Judaism, including the requirement that the men must be circumcised. The people promoting this position were arguing on behalf of their very identity: Christ was born a Jew and died a Jew. So too should be his followers.
As Luke indicates, “this caused no little dissension” or, more plainly, they nearly came to blows over it. Speaking up for the Gentiles, Peter declared, “God who knows the heart, bore witness by granting [the Gentiles] the Holy Spirit just as he did us.” Peter insisted that there was no need for Gentiles to become Jews, only to live as people permeated by God’s Spirit.
What did they do? They followed the synodal path. After discussing the issue, the community in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas, the “son of encouragement,” and some others to meet with the community in Jerusalem and proclaim all that God was working among the Gentiles (Acts 15:12). They carried a letter from the whole community that explained their discernment. After listening to one another and invoking the Holy Spirit, they boldly pronounced, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us” not to place undue burdens on the Gentiles.
German theologian Karl Rahner taught that this decision counted as one of the three most important moments in the history of the church. (The other two, he said, were the Incarnation and Vatican II.) With this decision, the community opened itself to be a gathering of all people. Without it, Christianity probably would have remained a small sect within the Jewish community. (For Rahner, Vatican II ratified this decision by gathering bishops native to all the continents, thereby definitively opening the church to the diversity of cultures and viewpoints that would give it a future.)
And today? We live in a time of unprecedented polarization in society and even in the church. Too many of us maintain a spirit of, “I’ve thought about it, and I’m right.” The danger with this is that we leave little room for the Spirit. We don’t approach others with the kind of prayerful, open hearts that allow us to comprehend various sides of an issue and discover new, community-building resolutions. What the disciples came to was not, “I’ve thought about it …” but the humble and faith-filled ability to announce boldly, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us …”
Following what Vatican II started, Pope Francis led the church into this era of synodality — gathering the widest possible diversity of Catholics of different ages, opinions and backgrounds to listen attentively for what the Holy Spirit wishes to do among us. There is no doubt that the Spirit can inspire us, as long as we remember that inspiration is not a direct line from heaven, but communal discernment even though it may entail no little dissension on the way to creative solutions.
Today’s liturgy asks us one stark question, “Do you have the humility and courage to allow the Spirit to permeate you, moving you beyond your cherished convictions into a genuinely new era?”
Reading I
(Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29)
Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers,
“Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice,
you cannot be saved.”
Because there arose no little dissension and debate
by Paul and Barnabas with them,
it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others
should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders
about this question.
The apostles and elders, in agreement with the whole church,
decided to choose representatives
and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.
The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas,
and Silas, leaders among the brothers.
This is the letter delivered by them:
“The apostles and the elders, your brothers,
to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia
of Gentile origin: greetings.
Since we have heard that some of our number
who went out without any mandate from us
have upset you with their teachings
and disturbed your peace of mind,
we have with one accord decided to choose representatives
and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So we are sending Judas and Silas
who will also convey this same message by word of mouth:
‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us
not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities,
namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols,
from blood, from meats of strangled animals,
and from unlawful marriage.
If you keep free of these,
you will be doing what is right. Farewell.’”
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 67: 2-3, 5-6 ,8)
O God, let all the nations praise you!
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
O God, let all the nations praise you!
May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide
O God, let all the nations praise you!
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
O God, let all the nations praise you!
Reading II
(Rev. 21: 10-14, 22-23)
The angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven from God.
It gleamed with the splendor of God.
Its radiance was like that of a precious stone,
like jasper, clear as crystal.
It had a massive, high wall,
with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed
and on which names were inscribed,
the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites.
There were three gates facing east,
three north, three south, and three west.
The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation,
on which were inscribed the twelve names
of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
I saw no temple in the city
for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb.
The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God gave it light,
and its lamp was the Lamb.\
Gospel
(John 14: 23-29)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.”