Sixth Sunday of Easter
If You Love Me… The Spirit Will Come; Open Your Heart to the Breath of God
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Greeting (See the Gospel)
“I will not leave you orphans,” says Jesus,
“But my Father will give you
the Spirit of truth.”
May the Spirit of our Lord be always with you.
R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
- If You Love Me… The Spirit Will Come
We are Christians, people who follow Christ. What makes us sure that we really love him? Jesus tells us today: “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” And we know that his commandment is: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbour as yourself. Today, Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit, who will make us see what we have to do to love God and our neighbour and who will give us the strength to do so. Let us ask Jesus, who is present here, to give us this Spirit of insight and strength.
- Open Your Heart To The Breath Of God
When an exemplary head of a family dies, it is a great consolation for his wife and friends if his ideals and style of life are kept alive in his children. “He keeps inspiring them,” they say. Jesus is not dead, for he died and rose again, yet he is no longer physically among us. But his very own Spirit is still with us, like a breath, the wind, even a storm. Where he blows, we feel him without seeing him. He touches our hearts and moves us forward to love and serve as Jesus did, to give warmth to this cold world, to renew us and our Church and our world through our hands and hearts. We pray that this Spirit be alive in us.
Penitential Act
- If You Love Me… The Spirit Will Come
We are still far from loving God with all our hearts
and our neighbour as ourselves.
We ask the Lord to forgive us.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, if we really love you,
We listen to the Spirit
telling us how to love and serve God well:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, if we really love you
we let the Spirit guide us
to invent new ways to love those around us:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, if we really love you
we let the Spirit inspire us
to become more like you:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us all our sins.
Pour out your Spirit of light over us
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
- Open Your Heart To The Breath Of God
Is the breath of the Spirit moving us,
Or do we let sin paralyse us?
Let us examine ourselves before the Lord.
(pause)
Lord, let your Spirit of truth inspire us
to make us honest with God,
with ourselves and with people:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, let your Spirit of freedom inspire us
to bring true liberation to our brothers and sisters:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord, let your creative Spirit of love move us
to form communities in which we share
our hope for a better world:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and let your Spirit take our sins away.
Let him make us faithful and strong
on the way to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray in hope
that the Holy Spirit may be poured out on us
(pause)
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your son has promised
not to leave us, orphans.
Give us the Holy Spirit of Truth,
to be with us and to live in us,
that we may know where we are going
and that we may follow Jesus Christ
on his way to you and to people.
May this Spirit kindle in us
the love of Jesus,
that we make the Good News of his love
visible and tangible to all.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,
sing praise to the glory of his name;
proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!”
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
“Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,
sing praise to your name!”
Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has changed the sea into dry land;
through the river they passed on foot;
therefore let us rejoice in him.
He rules by his might forever.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Second Reading
Suffering With the Mentality of Christ: Peter encourages the Christians who suffer persecution and misunderstanding. Bear witness to your faith, he says, and accept sufferings with the mentality of Christ. Then you will overcome with him.
but honor the Lord Christ in your hearts. Always be ready to defend your hope to anyone who demands an accounting of it, but do so with humility and respect.
Maintain a clear conscience so that those who slander you will be ashamed of their accusations because of your good conduct in Christ.
It is better to suffer for doing good, if it is God’s will, than for doing wrong.
Remember how Christ died once for all for our sins. The righteous one died for the unrighteous to bring us to God. In the body, he was put to death; in the Spirit, he was raised to life,
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord,
and my Father will love him and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The Father Will Give You the Spirit: Christ promises his Holy Spirit to help us believe and live our faith, and so live in the love of the Father and the Son.
If you love me, you will keep my commandments;
and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever,
the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you.
A little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me because I live, and you will also live.
On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Whoever keeps my commandments is the one who loves me. If he loves me, he will also be loved by my Father; I too shall love him and reveal myself to him.”
Prayers of the Faithful
Faithful to the command of the Lord who calls us to love all people, let us be united in prayer with Jesus our Lord, and say to him: R/ Lord, give us your Spirit.
– That the Spirit of strength may be given to all who have to bear witness to the hope alive in us, let us pray: R/ Lord, give us your Spirit.
– That the Spirit of power may be given to those who are persecuted for following their consciences and standing up for their integrity, let us pray: R/ Lord, give us your Spirit.
– That the Spirit of light may be given to those who do not yet know the Lord and to those who fail to follow him, let us pray: R/ Lord, give us your Spirit.
– That the Spirit of light may be given to those who know him and to those to be confirmed, let us pray: R/ Lord, give us your Spirit.
– That the Spirit of love may be given to those who want to grow in the love of God and people, let us pray: R/ Lord, give us your Spirit.
– That the Spirit of unity may be given to all who share in this Eucharist with faith and understanding, let us pray: R/ Lord, give us your Spirit.
Lord Jesus, pour out your Holy Spirit on our world and our Church generously. Let him lead us forward in hope and help us to build our future with you, for you are our Lord for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son promised us
not to leave us orphans
but to be with us always.
Let your spirit of power and truth
change these gifts into your Son
present here in our midst.
Through the Holy Spirit of love
create us anew and give us fresh hope
that we can do your liberating will
and live in your love for ever. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
Moved by the Holy Spirit, let us with joy give thanks to the Father.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
Guided by the Holy Spirit of Jesus,
we pray with our Lord
his prayer to the Father in heaven. R/ Our Father..
Deliver Us
Deliver us Lord, from every evil
and keep your Church free from persecution.
When we suffer for our faith,
let your Spirit of truth help us
to bear witness to you without fear,
with the courage of him
whose body could be killed
but whose spirit stayed alive,
our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus Christ,
our Risen Lord who said:
Those who obey my commandments
are the ones who love me;
and those who love me
will be loved by my Father
and I too will love them.
Happy are we to be loved by our Lord
and to receive him. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son has restored us with his body
and renewed our hope in the Spirit’s coming.
Let this same Spirit give us
the mentality of Jesus Christ,
that we may bear witness without fear
to your Son’s presence among us.
Let him make our hope and love
without conditions or boundaries.
Keep us joyful and free
by the strength of the surprising Spirit
of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
Go and take the Spirit of Christ with you,
that your mentality may be
The mentality of Christ
And your life is the Lord’s life.
Be not afraid to bear witness,
for he is your strength.
And may almighty God bless you,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in peace and keep hoping
in the coming of the Spirit. R/ Thanks be to God.
REFLECTION :
John 14:15-21
It’s a sin against the Holy Spirit to oppose renewal.
Today’s Gospel is part of Jesus’ first farewell speech at the Last Supper. Jesus promises not to abandon his chosen disciples without protection and guidance. He promises that the Heavenly Father will “send another helper” who will always be with them (v. 16). But the world cannot receive the paraclete, says Jesus.
When Jesus uses the term “world”, he does not refer to persons but to attitudes in each person—wherein darkness, sin, and death reign. Everyone has something good and bad. No one is without sins. But, Jesus consoles his disciples as he says not to lose heart when hatred, concupiscence, and uncontrolled passion control them. It is because the world’s spirit is contrary to that of Christ.
In the Gospel today, Jesus promises another helper. He says “another” helper because we already have one - Jesus himself. Jesus is our first paraclete. John explains this in his first letter: “My little children, I write you these things so that you may not sin; but if anyone does sin, we have a Paraclete by the Father’s side: the righteous Jesus Christ” (1 Jn 2:1). He defends us and protects us against our accuser - the devil, our opponent. The enemy is sin, and Jesus knows how to overcome sin and the devil.
Jesus assures his disciples that he is not going away; he simply changes the type of his presence. He is no longer physically present but always as the Risen One. He stays with us in an entirely different way, infinitely and invisibly.
John reminds the Christians of his community that with the presence of the Risen Jesus and his Holy Spirit amid life’s difficulties, they would not be discouraged and would not lose their serenity, peace of heart and joy. We shall not be frightened or broken down even when we have so many spiritual miseries, frailties, and evil inclinations.
A disciple must remain open to the impulse of the Spirit, who constantly renews and reveals new things. He is, by his nature, the one who renews the face of the earth (Ps 104:30). Therefore, it is a sin against the Holy Spirit to oppose the renewal, to refuse the innovations that favour the life of the community, that bring people closer to Christ and to the brethren, that increase joy and peace, that help people to pray better and free the heart from useless fears
Those who stubbornly remain attached to already obsolete and worn out religious traditions, who are not diligently given to the study of the Word of God, who do not accept updating of rites, formulae, and liturgical gestures, who give old answers to new problems, who do not accept with joy the discovery of biblical exegesis, they place themselves in opposition to the Spirit of truth.
It’s a sin against the Holy Spirit to oppose renewal. - Youtube