In today’s Gospel Jesus was aware that many of his followers did not accept his teaching or believe that he was the Son of God. In response to this rejection he asks them “what if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?” Jesus then indicates the depth of his Trinitarian relationship with the Father “no one could come to me unless the Father allows him” and reveals that it is the Holy Spirit which truly gives life to his testimony “the flesh has nothing to offer…the words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life”.
Like the followers of Jesus we too are invited to welcome the Holy Spirit in our hearts for it is not our bodies that are important, but our life in the Spirit. “It is the spirit that gives life”. The Holy Spirit is the strength that dwells in each of us. As our advocate and guide the Spirit comes to help us when we are weak or don’t have the words to pray, and intercedes for us to the Father. The Spirit is the eternal love of the Father, the very life of God in us.
As Christ’s followers and confident in the eternal love of God, we can echo Simon Peter’s in the Gospel and make an act of faith to Jesus today ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’
As Pope Benedict says “the Spirit, poured forth into our hearts, leads us to the Father, constantly making present God’s “Yes” to us in Christ and in turn enabling us to say our “Yes” – Amen! – to God. Our use of the word “Amen”, expresses our firm faith in God’s word and our hope in his promises. Through this daily “Yes” which concludes our personal and communal prayer, we echo Jesus’ obedience to the Father’s will and, through the gift of the Spirit, are enabled to live a new and transformed life in union with the Lord”.
(Pope Benedict XVI 30th May 2012)
