Sixth Sunday of Easter

Maryknoll Sr. Darlene Jacobs reflects on the power of the Holy Spirit and its promise for our lives as Christians.

This Sunday, like all the Sundays after Easter, the scripture we are invited to reflect on leads us to Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit.  This coming promises us the power that we need in order to witness, to give service and to be in mission to the world.  What kind of power is it anyway?  What does it mean to receive the Holy Spirit?

It is clear from the teaching of Jesus and repeated to us in Pope Leo’s Orbi et Ubi message for Easter this year that the power which we are given is absolutely nonviolent.  He goes on to ask us to “…abandon every desire for conflict, domination, and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace…”  Such power is not easily recognized by the world, but as always, we need to ask ourselves where we stand in relation to Christ’s teaching.  What is being asked of us as his followers?

When in the Gospel for today, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, I think this may be a welcome and comforting promise embraced by many.  My U.S., western background had never led me to think much about “spirit,” but that changed while living in East Africa.  I learned that spirits are often active in daily life and are brought to bear on many aspects. For example, spirits of deceased elders or community members can be seen to especially influence health and relationships. It is important to be in right relation with these spirits so that right relationships with family and community members can also be secured. Spirits can also live in nature, and extraordinary places like Mount Kilimanjaro or certain trees carry deep significance for people. Unseen power exists and is operative. That which is unseen has power.  Sometimes that unseen power is deeper and more real than something which is physically present.

And so, the promise of the Holy Spirit is seen as a source of power, in fact, probably as the key source of power, by Christians.  Listening to that promise of never leaving us as orphans, and especially the promise of life because Jesus lives and extends that promise to us, is a powerful motivation.

We circle back to what power is and how it is experienced in our world.  The unseen power of the Holy Spirit continues to inform us personally and as a community.  Like a people who are comfortable with spirit in everyday life, let us never be far from calling on and relying on the Holy Spirit, the one who will “help you and be with you forever.”

Maryknoll Sister Darlene Jacobs served in mission for 30 years in Tanzania, where she founded the Murugha Girls School. In 2014, Sister Jacobs returned to the Sisters Center in Ossining, New York, where she now lives.

Photo: Tarangire, Tanzania, courtesy of Sr. Darlene Jacobs.