You Will Testify About Me!

Introduction
We should not regret that the octave of Pentecost has been abolished. Two weeks from now to Pentecost, our attention is focused on the Spirit. Either the readings or the prayers, or both speak of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus was the faithful witness of the Father who showed us, in terms understandable for people, what God is like, but it cost him his life. Through his Spirit, he will make his apostles witnesses too. They have seen, so they MUST speak. They believe, so they MUST speak and act. The Spirit will make them afraid of nothing and nobody. Every Christian is called to be such a witness.

1 Reading ACTS 16:11-15
We set sail from Troas, making a straight run for Samothrace,
and on the next day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi,
a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.
We spent some time in that city.
On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river
where we thought there would be a place of prayer.
We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there.
One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth,
from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened,
and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention
to what Paul was saying.
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.

Responsorial Psalm 149:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
R. (see 4a) The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R

Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R.

Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches.
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R.

Alleluia John 15:26b, 27a
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord,
and you also will testify.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel John 15:26—16:4a
Jesus said to his disciples:
“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.
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.

“I have told you this so that you may not fall away.
They will expel you from the synagogues;
in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you
will think he is offering worship to God.
They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.
I have told you this so that when their hour comes
you may remember that I told you.”

Commentary:
In these modern times contaminated by much religious terrorism, it is easier to understand Jesus’s words that say those who engage in violence would claim to be doing so as a service to God. A noble goal, but utterly sinful act. Thomas Aquinas once observed: “Every time someone sins, they are sinning under the guise of good.” They do so, because, as Jesus tells us today, they have not known the Father or Christ. “No ruler of this world ever knew this [wisdom]; otherwise they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory” (1 Cor 2:8). That is why Jesus prays for them at his death: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34).
Jesus informs his disciple about such ignorance so that when the time of their persecution comes, they would remember and find it in their hearts to forgive them, as he himself did. And we know that the martyrs of the Church have invariably remembered it and prayed for their persecutors, starting with Stephen, the deacon (Acts 7:60). Let us pray for the grace to do the same at the moment of our death.

Blessing
We often need courage to bear witness to Christ and his Gospel. If the Gospel contradicts “public opinion,” who else will give us the courage to speak out than the Spirit of truth? May he speak in our words and our lives, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!