Imagine that Jesus wants to introduce us in this post resurrection time to His Heavenly Father. As we look in the direction He indicates we find we are painfully blinded by a beautiful and bright light. Then Jesus breathes upon us, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit." and the suddenly the light becomes visible in its unique beauty and we find ourselves safe, joy-filled and at home in the bosom of the Blessed Trinity the source of all things.
In our daily search for joy we come in this season to the true source of joy, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Resurrection gift of Jesus. How little we refer to the Holy Spirit apart from the liturgy of Pentacost or our Confirmation. Today we look for pleasure, and miss joy because we are ignoring the Spirit of Truth. Like Pilot, we ask, "What is truth?" There are so many versions of facts that truth is often lost and we give up our search and settle for the convenient.
In the Gospel of John, in the long farewell address situated during the last supper, Jesus promises us the Spirit of Truth who will bring to mind all that Jesus tried to tell during His lifetime. If we are open to the Holy Spirit we will be open to continually receiving the goodness and beauty of God. In finding the goodness of God we begin to see goodness, beauty and love all around us, even in simple things we overlooked before. We find that a heart that is open to the Holy Spirit expands to include all the children of God and all that is good, true and beautiful. Gradually suspicion, exclusion, fear, doubt and grudges give way to the freedom of the love of God. We find that we have the freedom of the children of God, without having to defend our masks and false pleasures. There is always a new joy with each day and with each event, even with those that are painful and which unite us to the Cross of Jesus, redeeming our sad and lonely world. Let us ask daily for the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
