The Advocate Will Come
“For the Souls in Purgatory – Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord”
John 15:26
When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.
Grace Prayed For
Lord, send your Spirit into the places in us that feel most alone, most uncertain, most without direction. Let the Advocate come and make a home in us.
Reflection
The Greek word translated ‘Advocate’ is parakletos — one called alongside. A companion in the truest sense: not merely present but present for you, present on your behalf, present as a help in exactly the situations where you most need help.
Jesus has been, throughout his ministry, the parakletos in person — teaching, strengthening, interceding, interpreting. Now he is going to the Father, and the disciples’ grief at losing this presence is real. But Jesus frames his departure not as abandonment but as the prerequisite for a new and deeper presence. The Spirit who comes will not be limited by a physical body. The Spirit will be with each of them, always, everywhere.
The Spirit of truth — this name deserves attention. In a world of competing narratives, propaganda, self-deception, and the constant pressure to deny what we know to be true, the Spirit’s function as truth-bringer is essential. The Spirit illuminates, convicts, clarifies, cuts through the noise of rationalization to name what is real.
For those of us who have experienced the Spirit’s work in prayer — the sudden clarity that comes in silence, the Scripture verse that pierces like a sword, the sense of being shown something about ourselves or others that we couldn’t have arrived at by our own reasoning — this promise is recognition. That is the Advocate. That is the Spirit of truth doing exactly what Jesus promised.
For small groups: How have you learned to recognize the Spirit’s movement in your own life? What practices create the conditions in which the Advocate can be heard? And where do you most need the Spirit of truth to speak clearly right now?
When Time Allows Reflect on the Posts in Library and Musings
Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post