Here is part of today’s Gospel, from St John: ‘And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you’.

The word ‘Counsellor’ is, in Greek, the Paraclete – one whom we call to stand beside us, as with a legal advocate. The word can also mean an intercessor, one who pleads for us, or who consoles and comforts us. we understand this to be the Holy Spirit, who was moving over the waters at creation, and who now lives and moves within us from the time of our baptism. Soon we will begin the novena which precedes Pentecost, and so we begin to prepare ourselves for the fresh gift of the Spirit of truth and love.

May God bless you and be specially close to you at this time.