I have come from the Father to the world

Acts 18:23-28, Jn 16:23-28. While today's Gospel implies our total dependence on the Holy Spirit, today's first reading offers another dimension: that our faith also needs guidance and encouragement from our fellow human beings. Apollos was certainly on the way toward Christian discipleship and showed great goodwill, but he needed the help of others. A married couple, Priscilla and Aquila, befriended him and gave him further instruction in the faith, sharing their deeper understanding with him. Later, when Apollos decided to journey to Corinth, the Christians in Ephesus encouraged him to do so. Realising how others could benefit from his gifts, they sent a letter of recommendation ahead of him to the Church in Corinth. When Apollos reached Corinth, his knowledge of the Scriptures was a great help to the believers there.

Priscilla and Aquila not only welcomed other Christians in Ephesus but served as educators of the faith. To dialogue with someone as knowledgeable as Apollos and lead him beyond the message of John the Baptist meant that this husband and wife were well informed, capable of dialogue and open to insights from the Holy Spirit. Evidently the Spirit is shared while people share their faith with one another. A community of faith grows when they are open to what the Holy Spirit reveals. Jesus exemplified this process of transformation in the Gospel. He must leave this world in order to send the Holy Spirit. This compares with the risks of leaving behind the tried and true, as experienced by Apollos. To belong to Jesus, we need to fully surrender to the Father. On making such a gift of oneself we will realise where Jesus is leading us: “I have come from the Father, into the world. Now I am leaving the world to go to the Father.” As we approach the Pentecost, we need to pray for an increase of the gift of the Spirit among us: “Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete.

May the Lord grant that the Holy Spirit may come to help us in our weakness and enable us to counsel one another in truth and charity! Amen! Good morning and Happy Weekend!!!