Gospel: John 15:26—16:4a
From the Father, I will send you the Spirit of truth. When this Helper has come from the Father, he will be my witness, and you, too, will be my witnesses, for you have been with me from the beginning.I tell you all this to keep you from stumbling and falling away. They will put you out of the synagogue. Still more, the hour is coming, when anyone who kills you will claim to be serving God; they will do this, because they have not known the Father or me. I tell you all these things now so that, when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them.

Reflections
“He will be my witness.”The Spirit of truth which Jesus refers to is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is about to be sent by him from God the Father. In Greek, the gender of pneuma (spirit) is neuter, but when it is translated into English the gender becomes masculine.The Holy Spirit is described as Helper or paraclete proceeding from the Father. He will strengthen the apostles in times of crisis. It is about being driven away from the synagogues because of their faith in Christ. Worse still, there will be people who would like to elimi- nate them, thinking that by doing so, they are doing the will of God. Jesus does not want his followers to give up their faith. They need the Holy Spirit to support them.Not only John the Baptist gave witness to Jesus, the Holy Spirit too will do the same, by pointing out to the people his presence among them.Jesus has refrained from re- vealing this to them at the begin- ning. He reserved this information until he was about to ascend into heaven. Do you feel the Holy Spirit is working in you? Are you strong in surmounting rejection and threats?
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