If you are someone who reads the Church’s daily readings (available on this very site!), you’ll notice that throughout this Easter season we have been spending a lot of time in John’s Gospel, especially in the section where Jesus keeps referring to His oneness with the Father and how, because the Father has loved first, He can love. We see poetic imagery like “the true vine.” This is very typical of John’s Gospel. The Gospel writer’s project is quite expansive; he is painting with a very large poetic brush, connecting the historic Jesus with the “logos” of ancient theology. This Sunday we hear again from Jesus through John and he is telling us about the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Teaching the mystery of the Trinity is always a little dicey to young students, but not because they can’t grasp the idea of “three persons in one God.” They surprisingly get it. What is difficult for them sometimes is the Holy Spirit. They get the language of God as a Father and the representation of God as a Son, probably because they know a father and a son, but the Holy Spirit puzzles them. The Bible isn’t very clear either. A dove, the Advocate, the fire, a guide, the power of God, the wind or breath have all been used to describe the Holy Spirit. Even for a writer as talented as John, you can see he’s finding trouble grasping hold of the image. So, what is the Holy Spirit and why discuss the Divine Spirit after Easter?
I had students offer images to describe the Holy Spirit. One I really enjoyed was “the glue in between two pieces of construction paper.” My favorite, “God’s Wi-Fi.” I enjoy that one because it is seemingly all around us, we don’t see it or know it is there. In fact, like the love of God, it is often so taken for granted that we don’t realize we need it until it is not working for us.
If we are to use this image, then Easter is the perfect time to talk about how God’s love is too big for one body. The person of Jesus is finally the Christ. Christ in His resurrection is telling us how to truly see the world. The eternal word found in the faces of the stranger riding the bus, or the space between a symphony’s notes. I think of the poet James Wright’s words: “Suddenly I realize/That if I stepped out of my body I would break/Into blossom” (A Blessing).
Death is too small for the Christ. Jesus has resurrected, the Holy Spirit blossomed, pouring over all of creation, instructing us. Look closer — I am here in the person you may not think much of; I am here, in the face of the child and immigrant. Or, as Pascal has the Lord saying, “you would not have been looking for me, had I not already found you.” I’ll say it again, Happy Easter!
I’ll be seeing you
Elliot