Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of John (16: 5-11) in which Jesus tells his disciples ‘Unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.’

Fr Paul says, today’s Gospel is a classic good news/bad news Gospel.  The bad news is the loss of Jesus’s personal presence among us.  This will deeply affect the disciples who love Jesus and because they rely on his leadership.  The good news is the coming of the Holy Spirit. We need to keep in mind it is Jesus who sends the advocate and not God the Father.

John’s Gospel, as Fr Paul has mentioned before, is ultimately about the believe in, or rejection of, Jesus and that this is how we will be judged.  The Spirit’s coming is to seal these judgements. The Spirit is coming to prove and confirm them. For the Spirit, all sin is nothing other than refusal to believe in Christ.

In the way of John, all sin happens when we refuse Christ in some way, shape or form. Fr Paul invites us to reflect on this as our day continues.