May 1, Sixth Sunday of Easter
Cycle C. Readings:
1) Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6, 8
2) Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23
Gospel: John 14:23-29
The college student I was interviewing for an article in the North Texas Daily at the University of North Texas had retained his Jewish identity when he converted to an evangelical mode of Christianity.
Ron was very late to our appointment, and I found out why once he arrived.
People kept stopping him along the way and engaging him in conversations about his newfound faith.
I’ve always thought it had something to do with a giftedness he had for sharing the good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
In this week’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples, “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.”
I’ve always thought Ron had a special measure of the Holy Spirit that caused him to draw people to himself so he could share the wisdom of God’s love, the wisdom Jesus was talking about here.
On that first meeting with him, we began walking around the journalism offices on campus where I got to witness firsthand how God used Ron to communicate his love.
Person after person whom we greeted got into long, deep conversations about God and Jesus. People with slender faith backgrounds were eager to discuss faith with this exceptional guy.
While I had started out to get a factual story about Ron, it turned into a faith-filled feature story that ran in the secular campus newspaper.
Hmm, Holy Spirit at work?
— Jeff Hensley
QUESTIONS:
Have you ever known anyone who had a special wisdom that seemed to come from the Holy Spirit? Have you ever experienced God seeming to bring to mind answers you needed to help you in a time of special need?
