May 15, 2026 Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter Gospel: John 16:20–23
Today is Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter. The passage from the Gospel of Saint John continues our Lord Jesus Christ’s farewell discourse to His disciples before His Passion.
Before we receive the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, original sin and actual sin leave our souls numb to spiritual sorrow. Our flesh finds satisfaction in the fleeting joys of the world, while our souls, estranged from God, endure the anguish of separation—this is sin. Sin draws us away from God and closer to the devil. As Saint Peter the Apostle warns: “Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (cf. 1 Pet 5:8). Especially when we resolve to receive Baptism and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, they persist in tempting us, causing us to experience a labor pain akin to that of childbirth.
We encounter this birthing pain because we are to be reborn in Christ. I prefer to call this pain of rebirth a unique grace bestowed by God upon each of us. For it is through this singular grace that we choose to renounce the worldviews, life perspectives, and values imposed on us by the devil, and instead, under the illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit, embrace the worldview, life vision, and values taught by the Word of God. This rupture is the distinctive grace God grants us.
Beloved brothers and sisters! When, within the boundless charity of Christ, we are cleansed from original sin in the water flowing from His sacred side through the Baptism of Christ, we are set free from sin and death. Whenever we are in Christ and receive the Holy Spirit—the “Advocate” promised by Christ to His disciples after His Ascension (cf. John 14:25–26), the “Spirit of truth” (cf. John 15:26–27)—then “in Him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily, and [we] have been brought to fullness in Him” (cf. Col 2:9). Thus, together with all who have received the Spirit, we share in Christ’s divinity and partake in His royal, priestly, and prophetic offices. Consequently, we are called to proclaim the Gospel to the world, so that through all we do, others may see the infinite mercy God reveals in them. In this way, we are filled with the joy God gives us. Then, whatever we ask the Father in Jesus’ name, He will grant us, for He is faithful to His promises.
Hear our prayers, O Lord, so that what was promised by the sanctifying power of your Word may everywhere be accomplished through the working of the Gospel and that all your adopted children may attain what the testimony of truth has foretold. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
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