Acts 8.5-8,14-17 | 1 Peter 3.15-18 | John 14.15-21

We begin the sixth week of Easter Season with Mother Church, deepening our experience with the risen Jesus, united to the Father, the Advocate Spirit, and to us.

We continue in May, the month of Mary. And, since the second Sunday of May is Mother's Day, we honor the women who gave birth to us and brought us into the world while we exalt our Mother in Heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Today the evangelist John speaks to us of the union of the risen Jesus with the Father and the sending of the Holy Spirit as Advocate to the disciples.

For a period of forty days, Jesus gave proof of His resurrection (cf. Acts 1.3), and then went to the Father.

The original context of today's Gospel is Jesus' farewell before His crucifixion, but it is being read in the Easter context prior to the ascension of the resurrected Jesus to Heaven, revealing His victory over death, His union with the Father and with the disciples, and the giving of the Spirit of Truth as Advocate.

Jesus said that keeping His commandments was proof of love for Him. As we know, Jesus' commandments were the disciples' love for the Father and for one another as He had loved them.

While Jesus remained with the disciples, He defended them and transmitted the Truth to them. Because of His ascension, so that the disciples would not be without an Advocate, Jesus would ask the Father to give them the Spirit of Truth, so that He would always remain with them and within them. The world (those who rejected Jesus) was unable to receive the Spirit because it did not know Him, as was the case with the disciples.

Having conquered death, Jesus would give life to the disciples, thanks to His union with the Father and with them, in love. Jesus promised the disciples that He would come to them. This refers to His glorious return at the end of time. Jesus promised to manifest Himself to those who remained in the dynamic of love that is given and received in the fulfillment of the commandments.

In this Easter Season, let us grow in fraternal love in community, welcoming and witnessing the presence of the risen Jesus accompanied by the Father and the Advocate Spirit. Jesus is our life!

Today the evangelist Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles about receiving the Holy Spirit through the Confirmation of Baptism.

Having received the Spirit of the risen Christ, the apostle Philip proclaimed Jesus and the Word of God to the Samaritans, performing miracles, exorcising evil spirits, and healing paralytics and the lame. The apostles Peter and John joined Philip and confirmed the Baptism in the name of Jesus that the Samaritans had received, laying their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

This is how the biblical foundation for the sacrament of Confirmation is seen, received by young people and adults who have already been baptized and evangelized, with the oil of Holy Chrism, by the hands of the bishops, successors of the apostles.

Previously, Confirmation was performed at the same time as the child's Baptism, by the priest or deacon himself. Recently, to further value Confirmation, deepen evangelization, and emphasize the authority of the bishop as a local authority and a sign of unity in the diocese, the current format was chosen.

Let us spread the sacrament of Confirmation more widely, so that Christians may be a dwelling place of the Advocate Spirit and faithful collaborators in the communities, pastoral activities, and movements of the Church.

Today, the apostle Peter speaks to us in his first letter about the reason for our hope, which we must give to whoever asks us for it, highlighting the new life through the Spirit that Jesus received after His passion and death on the Cross.

Christian hope for the present time and for the future life is not an illusion or naive optimism, but finds its support in Jesus and the Word of God, remaining firm even in times of persecution and deprivation. Catechesis (both for the sacraments and ongoing catechesis) is the perfect opportunity to give the reason for our hope to whoever wants to know it, to whoever wants to become a Christian.

Christian hope is rational, it has a logic, although reason needs to be illuminated by faith to be fully embraced.

And to be a Christian is to maintain good conduct in Christ, to practice good, even when one is defamed and outraged, for Christ led us to God by dying for the sins.

Let us be good Christians and prepare good Christians who witness to faith, hope, and charity in the world.

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