The Advocate

6th Sunday of Easter, Year A

• A speaker at a Harvest Festival service;

• Asked the children to name some of the things they saw on display.

• One boy said; “Carrots”.

• Another said; “Potatoes”;

• Another said; “Peas”.

• The speaker then asked them the question:

• “Can anyone give me a word that covers all these things?”

• There was a few minutes silence;

•Then one little boy shouted out; “Gravy!

We rarely use the word 'Advocate' in everyday language, but it covers a lot of things: Comforter, Counselor, Friend, Guide, Helper, Intercessor, Interpreter.

1). The 10 Commandments are the spiritual and social terms for receiving the Advocate. Love's first steps is keeping the Commandments.

That means to behave in compliance without regard for biological or sociological stimulations, which include temptation, and misinformation.

In today’s “tyranny of relativism,” there is a built-in suspicion of any and all claims to objective truth

Our Second Reading says "[keep] your conscience clear," Father Cantalamessa noted that when the interior testimony of the Holy Spirit that speaks in our conscience is neglected, we easily fall into legalism and authoritarianism, but when the Commandments and the moral guidance of the Church is neglected, we fall into subjectivism and relativism.

2. 'Advocate' means Paraclete. The term 'Para' means 'Alongside.' If I stand by this ambo or pulpit I am 'Para' the pulpit.

The Advocate can be discovered and experienced in others too, particularly in the poor.

Some might be surprised that the Pentecost sequence invokes the Holy Spirit as "Father of the Poor".

How could this be? The Spirit is the Comforter – and comforts the poor in their sorrows and pain.

The Spirit is the advocate, the Paraclete – who advocates for the poor in the face of injustice too.

The Spirit gives the People of God the gift of Courage – so that the poor and their advocates witness to the justice of the Reign of God.

The Spirit is the force of Initiative in the lives of God’s people, renewing the Church – so that the Church be truly “a poor Church and a Church for the Poor,” as Pope Francis as said.

As Jesus told us through St. Faustina, “I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for me” (742).

3). A good lawyer makes you believe the truth but a great lawyer makes you believe in the lie.

Satan tends to harass us by whispering thoughts that tempt us to be negative, resentful, or self-condemning. We may think these thoughts come from ourselves, and partly they do. But at the same time, they are fostered by Satan's negative accusations.

But the best Advocate in a trial works for us as clients and attacks the opposite party by convincing it that it lies. That is what the Advocate does to Satan's lies: it shuts him up. With the truth.

In Joseph Heller's “Catch – 22” Yossarian experiences, instead of deja vu, jamais vu. Things that he has seen over and over again are finally seen for the very first time.

The Advocate, the guide of our hearts, of our decisions and our lives, is really there for us; pay attention