Fourth Sunday after Easter – Preparation for the Pentecost
Last Sunday, we heard Our Lord preparing his Apostles for his departure. This Sunday, we hear his promise to send the Holy Ghost.
Last Sunday, we heard Our Lord preparing his Apostles for his departure. This Sunday, we hear his promise to send the Holy Ghost.
Editor’s Notes
This Gospel passage is read on the Fourth Sunday after Easter. They are taken from Christ’s final words to the Apostles in the Cenacle, on the night of Maundy Thursday, immediately before leaving for Gethsemane. Intriguingly, this passage precedes the passage read on the previous Sunday.
In this text, Christ unveils the coming role of the Holy Ghost, who will perfect the Apostles’ understanding, glorify the Son, and lead the Church into all truth after his Ascension.
He teaches that revelation is given gradually, with divine reverence for human weakness, and that the Holy Ghost will inwardly illuminate what the Apostles could not yet bear – deepening their knowledge, recalling his words, and guiding the Church into the full mystery of redemption.
This text grounds Catholic doctrine on the divine origin of tradition, the unity of revelation, and the Holy Ghost’s role in glorifying Christ across the ages.
The Holy Ghost and Our Lord
Passiontide, Part III,
Chapter V
St. John xvi. 12-15, Story of the Gospels, § 156
Burns and Oates, London, 1886
Part I: Why did Christ leave things unsaid before the Ascension?
Christ told the Apostles they were not yet ready for the whole truth—and promised the Holy Ghost would guide them step by step into it.
Part II: How does the Holy Ghost lead the Church into all truth?
Christ sometimes expressed his revelation to the Apostles in seed form, leaving the Holy Ghost to bring them to a full understanding.
Part III: Does the gift of prophecy still exist in the Church?
Prophecy isn’t dead. It lives on in the Church—just not how most think.
Part IV: How the Holy Ghost makes us grow into the ‘fulness of Christ’
The Church’s goal is have us know, love and serve God. The Holy Ghost alone makes that possible.
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