SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR A.
28th May 2017.
Acts 1:12-14; 1 Peter 4:13-16; John 17:1-11.
And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. The mission of Jesus Christ is complete. Now the apostles must wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. His mission is to give eternal life to humanity. To know God and his son Jesus Christ is eternal life – salvation. This knowledge is made available through the action of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the love that exists between God the father and His son, Jesus Christ. The Father and the Son come to man by the Holy Spirit and dwell in him. The knowledge of God involves the whole of the human person – body and spirit. It is more than academic knowledge, rather it is faith – eternal life. Love is an emotion of the heart translated into action. Love is recognized in our action. Thus to know God and to know Jesus Christ His son, involves acting in a certain way.
What Jesus Christ promised his disciples is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to the aid of humanity in right path to salvation. The love of God radiates through the Holy Spirit, thus he becomes for us the way to the father.
