“When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,
he will testify to me.
The Spirit is a living gift from the Father and the Son. Because of him we need not feel as though we are orphaned when Jesus ascends to heaven and departs from the realm of visible existence. If anything, the Spirit makes us closer than ever to the Son and, in him, to the Father, himself crying out "Abba, Father!" from within our own hearts. This testimony that he gives is more than a mere deposition in court. He assures those who receive him that they are sons and daughters of the Father because the Son of the Father himself has come to dwell within. As part of this assurance the Spirit reminds us of the words of the Son, or better, he helps make the presence of the Son's living word an ongoing reality for us. He establishes us in truth and then keeps us there by convicting hearts that stray and inviting them to return and embrace their new identity as children of God.
And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (see John 16:8).
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.
Our testimony is not meant to be merely our own. It is not even a story in which we ourselves are the main character. Rather our testimony is like that of Lydia, a story of how the Lord himself opened us to pay attention to the message of the Gospel. When it is time to tell others the story of our own conversion the words we use are meant to be the result of the Spirit of truth testifying within us. Just as we needed the Lord to open our hearts to receive him in the first place so to do we need him to be the one that opens the hearts of those who hear us.
When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.
Evangelization happens chiefly when the heart of the hearer and the heart of the speaker are both open to the action of the Holy Spirit. It is then that there is a resonance, a quality of attention in the mind of the hearer that allows her to embrace the Gospel. The sort of response that results from this is often surprising even to the person herself, seen in Matthew leaving his post, Peter leaving his boat, or in the way in which Zacchaeus rejoiced to welcome Jesus into his home. Lydia too experienced this grace of the Spirit to respond to what Paul his companions taught.
After she and her household had been baptized,
she offered us an invitation,
“If you consider me a believer in the Lord,
come and stay at my home,” and she prevailed on us.
Even with the Spirit showing us where to go and teaching us what to say we will not always encounter only success. Jesus shows us that some will respond with hostility, and that many of them will even be sincere, true believers in their opposition to the message with which we have been entrusted. For our part, if we remember that Jesus told us that this was a part of the plan we can remain unshaken and unhindered in our mission. To meet opposition is not only normal, it is the privilege of Jesus himself helping his Church to experience in her members the mysteries of his own life. He suffered rejection and transformed that rejection by love and forgiveness. He suffered pain and transformed that pain into a precious offering for the life of the world. It is part of his plan for us that the life first lived by the head now be manifest in the body. It need not be seen as an obstacle or a detour. We can express our response as very much be a part of our mission. When we let the Spirit remain in control even in times of trial we allow the Lord the freedom he desires to do great things through us.
I have told you this so that when their hour comes
you may remember that I told you.
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