Sixth Sunday after Easter – Year A
May 10, 2026
Gospel Lectionary Text
John 14:15-21
14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.
14:17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
14:18 I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.
14:19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.
14:20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
14:21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."
Context
Welcome to the Sixth Sunday after Easter. In this week’s Gospel, Jesus promises the coming of the Advocate (the Parakletos). Most of us hear that as a kind of backup plan. Jesus is leaving, so the Spirit is given as a consolation prize to bring some measure of comfort for the loss of Jesus.
But that’s not quite it. The Spirit is not a substitute for the real thing. The Spirit is the real thing, experienced in a new way. It is how Jesus remains present — creatively, actively, calling forth life in all things. How is this true? Consider the following.
- In legal terms, the Advocate is the one who defends us from the accuser, which is what the word “satan” means. The voice of Satan is always the voice of accusation. The Spirit defends us by coming “alongside” (para), “calling out” (kaleo) on our behalf.
- Jesus says, the Spirit “will remind you of everything I have said to you” (Jn 14:26). This remembering is not about recalling information, as though we are playing trivia. This is a different kind of memory. The past is made present in a new and dynamic way. We might call it a living memory, awakened and activated whenever we gather in the way of Jesus. This “way,” as we discovered last week, is the merciful presence of God. Whenever this way of being in the world is experienced, the memory of Jesus becomes alive and present — but in a new way — a way that has never been experienced before.
- The Spirit’s mode of existence is not merely to dwell in us, as though the Spirit were our own personal property. The Spirit occupies the space between us — connecting us. The Spirit is the relational dynamic that reminds us we belong to each other. That is how the Spirit dwells: uniting, reconciling, one-ing all of creation.
Augustine summed things up this way: The Father is the Lover. The Son is the Beloved. The Spirit is the mutual Loving between them. That sounds about right.
Question
This week Jesus promises to give us his Spirit, who is with us forever. He calls the Spirit parákletos — the Advocate, the Defender. Where do you need an Advocate? Where are you feeling orphaned or undefended? What truth might the Spirit be inviting you to hear, or to speak, that feels hard to name?
Reflections
The Promise of Presence
By Lina Thompson |
Here we are, nearly 6 weeks past Easter. The gospel lectionary passage will not let us forget the days before Jesus’ death…and the words…the last words he spoke to his disciples. Jesus is measured and intentional with what he wants them to know and remember…and here it is…
She’s Calling
By Lina Thompson |
To be clear, this love isn’t just another law… It’s not another demand for perfection. Quite the opposite. It involves a healthy dose of failure and forgiveness from everyone involved. They are also key elements in our journey to becoming a force in creating true human community.
The Promise of Presence
By Lina Thompson |
Since my father passed away some years ago, I've had a fascination with the last words and days of a person's life. My father struggled with lung cancer--breathing was a chore. Every breath he took was measured, had meaning, and was intentional.
Praying Eucharistically - Weekly Homily by James Alison:
Understanding the Bible anew through the Mimetic Theory of René Girard.
Poetry
Waiting For God
by William Stafford
This morning I breathed in. It had rained
early and the sycamore leaves tapped
a few drops that remained, while waving
the air’s memory back and forth
over the lawn and into our open
window. Then I breathed out.
This deliberate day eased
past the calendar and waited. Patiently
the sun instructed shadows how to move;
it held them, guided their gradual defining.
In the great quiet, I carried my life on,
in again, out again.
Prayer
Come Holy Spirit, wild and free. Do as you please. Be our guide, our counselor, our advocate and our defender. Calling out our names on our behalf. Transform our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh that we might see you face to face and become new.
We pray this in the name of the Father who is for us, the Son who is with us, and the Spirit who unites us all in the never-ending dance of Love.
Amen.