A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
After his resurrection and before his ascension, Jesus appears to the disciples behind locked doors, where they are hiding in fear. His first word to them is “Peace.” Showing them his hands and his side, the hands that had been nailed to the cross and the side that had been pierced with a lance, the disciples rejoiced in this because they realized that this was not a ghost and that Jesus is who he said he was: the Son of God. Jesus sends out the disciples just as the Father had sent him, and he delivers on his promise: the Advocate comes upon them with the the breath of God. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” Jesus says, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Jesus’ prayer for his disciples and for all who believe in him is answered.
God, help me understand the vital role of the Holy Spirit in my relationship with you. When I think of Jesus’ departure and the coming of the Advocate, I want to set straight in my heart what this means. My first thought is that of sadness, that Jesus is leaving the face of the earth and that his physical absence is a loss. But a greater reality unfolds at this moment. When the Holy Spirit comes, when Jesus breathes on the disciples, he dwells among his people in a new way for all time. It is as the responsorial psalm describes: “If you take away their breath, they perish and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.”
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.