Eastertide Week 6 Jn 16, 5-11
Jesus makes it very clear that evil will never win in the face of the truth. Despite the punishment received, Paul and Silas are set free from prison and even convert their jailer and his family. Goodness always triumphs in the end. Even when the future looks desperate and is threatened by death, there is always hope. This hope is symbolised by the promise of sending us the Holy Spirit.
Listen to Pope Francis
· To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope.
· There are difficult moments in life, but with hope the soul goes forward and looks ahead to what awaits us.
· Hope is having our hearts anchored to our loved ones, our ancestors, to where the saints are, where Christ is, where God is.
· There is never a reason to lose hope. Jesus says, “I am with you to the end of the world!”
The Holy Spirit was given to us in the sacrament of baptism and reinforced in the sacrament of Confirmation. Listen to this extract from “If this time . . . by Kevin McCormack:
If this time has taught me anything, it is this: HOPE matters and we cannot live without it. This time has taught me that HOPE is not a wish, nor a desire for things to be different. It is a course of action, a combination of mind and heart. The future can be better and can be brighter, and we each have the power within us to make it so. There will be challenges to face along the way, to which there are many solutions. There is a source of resilience deep within us all.
by Fr Thomas O'BRIEN a.a
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