Totus Tuus, Maria! Welcome everyone to our Feast Dasma Bible Study Online Version 2.

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Apologetics Series!

Kamustahan muna!
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Opening prayer:

Topic for discussion: “The Work of the Spirit!”

Gospel Reading: John 16:12-15

12“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. 13[a]But when he comes, the Spirit of
truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and
will declare to you the things that are coming. 14He will glorify me, because he will take from what is
mine and declare it to you. 15Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he
will take from what is mine and declare it to you.

Gospel Q & A:
1. Has my participation in the community led me, to experience the presence and the force of the Holy
Spirit?

Gospel Background:
During the Easter Season, the Gospels of each day are almost always taken from chapters 12 to 17 of
the Gospel of John. Alam nyo po ba kung bakit?

Kasi po, ipinapakita sa atin sa mga readings ang tungkol sa pinanggalingan at patutunguhan ng bawat
chapters sa gospel ni St. John. Hindi lang ipinapakita sa atin kung ano ang nangyari before the Passion
and death of our Lord, but also and above all, ay yung tinatawag na “living out of faith” of the first
communities after the resurrection. Ito yung pagsasabuhay bilang mga Kristiyano.

They express the Paschal faith which animated them, which is exactly what we are doing right now!
Before we go to verse 12, pwedeng mag joke? May isang lalaki na matagal ng walang trabaho at sa
kauna-unahang pagakakataon ay nagbukas ng Bibliya at binasa ito. And after a while, he got excited
while staring at it! Bakit kaya? Because he saw JOB!

Reflection:
• John 16: 12 - "I still have many things to say to you."
Today’s Gospel begins with this sentence and here, Jesus is saying two things:
- He’s giving His farewell, characterized by the Last Supper, and
- His personal concern, like an older brother, for His younger brothers, who within a brief time will be
left without His presence.

The Last Supper farewell - When Catholics participate in the Eucharist at Mass, they partake of an
ancient repast that has its roots in Jesus’s last meal, the Last Supper.
What is a repast? A repast is a meal after a funeral were mourners gather and collectively share their
sorrow. The post-funeral reception offers an opportunity for friends and family to celebrate the
deceased life. The definition of repast is not limited to funerals and it simply means "A Meal" or a
“Solemn Feast.”

Knowingly or not, Catholics also commemorate the very beginnings of Christianity – not to
mention the birth of the Christian priesthood.

The time left was very short. The work begun was not yet complete. The disciples were just at the
beginning of their apprenticeship. They are basically having an on-the-job-training! The fact that
they are still called “Disciples,” means they are followers or student of a teacher, a leader. In ancient
Greek, philosophers call their students as disciples.

Three years is a very short time to change life and to begin to live and to think in a new image of God.
New, because Jews are monotheistic in their spiritual beliefs, but with Jesus it seems that they have not
completely understand yet why there’s a Father, a Son and now the Holy Spirit! It’s definitely quite
confusing to them!

Their formation was not yet finished and they are confused. Much was still lacking and Jesus still had
many things to teach them and to transmit to them, but here’s the thing. He knows His disciples! They
may not be among the most intelligent, as most of them are fishermen, and they would not be capable
of knowing all the consequences and implications of discipleship, but the Lord knew their hearts!

Pwede ba ulit mag share ng joke?

During the night before Jesus’ arrest, it so happened that the inner room was not available, so Jesus
decided that He’ll just bring His disciple to a Hotel. So they went to Last Supper Hotel, but Jesus
brought them to the bar first and the twelve disciples were all “ngiti hanggang tenga!” Pagpasok nila sa
bar sabi ni Lord, “Tubig lang ang oorderin nyo, kung may juice pwede naman!”

After that, lumipat na sila sa dining hall para sa last supper. And maayos naman ang kanilang dinner
that night. And then, tinawag na ni Lord si waiter. "Waiter!", Jesus called, "Can I get a receipt please?"

After some time, the waiter finally comes to Jesus and puts the receipt in His palm. Jesus is looking at
the receipt for 10 seconds straight with confusion and shock all over His face. He turns to His disciples
and shouts "Di ba sabi ko tubig at juice lang, sino umorder ng alak?!"

These story maybe funny, but it shows the disciples a lesson on how to deal with circumstances in light
of who they are, with knowing their priorities, at ang kahalagahan ng pagtitimpi at pagpipigil sa sarili.

Ofcourse, they would become discouraged, hindi pa sila sanay sa mga ganung bagay eh! And they will
have fear of many things that they might not be able to bear lalo na pag hindi na nila kasama si Lord!

Shoutout!

• John 16: 13-15 - The Holy Spirit will come to their help.
“However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will lead you to the complete truth, since He will not be
speaking of His own accord, but will say only what He has been told and He will reveal to you the
things to come. He will glorify Me, since all He reveals to you will be taken from what is Mine.”
Here, we pick up Jesus' teaching on the Spirit's role of guiding us into all truth starting in Jn. 16:13.

By now, Jesus' disciples are on emotional overload. They are confused, frightened, and not in a state to
comprehend the truths Jesus is teaching them. So Jesus promises that the Spirit will explain all to them
in due time.

Like most of us today, we do experience the same thing di ba? We experience something that we do not
understand, we ask the Lord in prayer for the answer to our “Whys?” But what we sometimes forget is
that, the Holy Spirit is the one guiding us and will make everything clear to us in due time.

Jesus’ assertion shows the experience of the first communities. In the measure in which they sought to
imitate Jesus, trying to interpret and apply His Word to the various circumstances of their life, they
experienced the presence and the light of the Spirit.

This even happens today in our communities which tries to incarnate the Word of Jesus in our daily
life. The root of this experience is Jesus’ message: “Everything the Father has is Mine that is why I
said, ‘all He reveals to you will be taken from what is Mine.”

• The action of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John.

Before we examine that explanatory role of the Spirit in verses 13-15, let's look carefully at verse 13a.
Observe that the word "He" used here, in Greek is a masculine pronoun referring to pneuma, "Spirit,"
which is a neuter gender noun. Although personally, I like the Hebrew term, ruacḥ ha-qodesh, which
means the spirit of YHWH. Ano po ang ibig kong sabihin? Here, it is clear that Jesus is making a
point that we should think of the Holy Spirit in personal terms.

And in order for us to understand the Holy Spirit on a personal level, we must talk about the Holy
Trinity.

The Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is hard to understand, I know lahat po tayo have this same
dilemma. We struggle to explain the Holy Mystery which is the Trinity.

We often think the Trinity is simply a three for one deal, parang “by two, take one” deal. We get three
gods for the price of one. But no, what I’m trying to point out here is absolutely that, God is not a
product and He is not for sale.

God is a living being who is with us, watching us, hearing us and being ministered to by us during the
liturgies. All we have, all we are, and all we do is accomplished by the Holy Trinity.

According to Jesus Himself, The Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, works together. Pano yun?

The Father created the Heavens and the earth and He did so through the Son.
The Holy Spirit sustains that life.
The Father gives all that is His to the Son who tells us that He will send to us the Holy Spirit to guide
us in the Way. Meaning, in this life and in our faith.

Although the Father is the Creator, the Son and the Holy Spirit are also involved in the work of
creation. The Son is the Redeemer. But also, the Holy Spirit raised Him to life, the Father sent Him
to earth, so, the Father redeems and the Holy Spirit redeems.
The Holy Spirit is the Sustainer of all life, but He does so through the redemption offered through the
Son and He proceeds from the Father who is in Heaven.

This means that the Father and the Son also sustain us. So, there is not one thing that one person of the
Trinity does in which the other two persons of the Trinity is not involved. It’s what we call in Catholic
theology as “the act of one is the act of three.”

And when we say that God is infinite, that He is incomprehensible, that He is uncreated, that He just
was and is, that He is not confined by time, or space, that He is active in the history of all things. We
are talking not just of the Father, nor the Son nor the Holy Spirit. But we are referring all of it to the
Holy Trinity!

Now, we know that God is God. But we also know that God is three persons as God. God is not three
different modes of one thing which changes itself to our specific need. But He is three distinct
persons of the same substance who works in our common and individual lives.

The Father is the cause of all existence and is over all things. (Gen. 1)

The Son through whom all things were created, is one with the Father.
(Jn. 1:1-3 – “1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing
was made that has been made).

Redeems humanity through His offering of Himself, and makes known the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit is the source and supply of good things which flows forth upon creation and is the Counselor
who delivers the message from the Father through the Son.

Questions about the Holy Trinity.

Are any of these persons less than any other? No.

Are they separate persons? Yes.
Are any of these persons a different thing other than God? No.

Malinaw po ba? Kaya po, if maybe some of you are wondering, “Baka nagtatampo na sa akin ang Holy
Spirit kasi panay si Jesus lang ang kinakausap ko eh! Or, “Naku, baka nagtatampo na si God the Father
sa akin kasi may debosyon ako Sacred Heart pero sa kanya wala!”

Hindi po, it doesn’t work that way!

The Trinity is one substance, God (divine, infinite), and three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
There is no division of nature or will or thought in them.

Finally, the Trinity is inconceivable, unfathomable, all powerful and mysterious. (Share about
your fear in the dark)

My point is simple, we as human beings, want and need to have someone near (parang si boyfriend or
girlfriend). In fact, for those of the faith, we long to have the palpable or tangible presence of God near
us. In today’s passage from St. John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that God is near. As he lays out how the
Holy Trinity works, it should bring us great comfort, knowing that we are not alone!
Jesus is telling us that while He is sitting at the right hand of the Father, there is another person of the
Trinity who can make us transcend time and space and be with Him and the Father at all times. And
that is the Holy Spirit. That is because the Holy Spirit is the same substance and existence as the
Father and the Son.

What does the Holy Spirit do? John uses many images and symbols to signify the action of the Holy
Spirit. But let us name a few.

- It is the Spirit who makes Jesus, the Son, present in the bread and the cup, during
consecration in the Holy Eucharist.
- It is the Holy Spirit who applies the benefits of Christ’s death on the cross to us in
Baptism.
- It is the Holy Spirit who brings the will of the Father to us and fills us with all
goodness.
- Pero alam nyo po ba kung ano ang pinaka una at mahalagang epekto ng Banal na
Espiritu sa isang nananampalataya kay Hesus? Ask me what! The first effect of
the action of the Spirit in us is reconciliation:

“If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are
retained.” (Jn. 20:23).

So, we know that the Trinity is actively changing us and bringing us near to Himself. Notice I use
the singular to refer to the Trinity.

It is important for us to know that God is not just the transcendent, unreachable, above-the-clouds
Father in Heaven far away from us. We need to know that God the Son is willing to suffer and die for
us. We need to know that God is always near to us in the Holy Spirit. By being Three in One and not
Three for One, God is active in our lives.

Galing ni Lord di ba?! He thought of a very unique way of existence that allows a God so far away in
the heavens to reach us in our everyday lives, parang napaka imposible that God decided to become
man and come down to us and became one of us.

Because, He is God, He is the Father in the heavens and the Son bridging the gap between being God
and being human, and the Holy Spirit drawing us to trust that God has bridged the gap and is near.

Being the Trinity means, that God cares.

Being the Trinity means, that God wants to be active in your life and be near.

He will never leave us orphaned. He will never leave us alone. (Jn. 14:18)
How we approach God is through prayer, which is talking and listening to Him through the Holy
Spirit.

And then ofcourse, we approach the active/living-God through the sacraments.

We approach the Holy Trinity by reading the Holy Word of God and by worshiping Him during the
celebration of the mass, and by doing everything in His name, for His Glory!
Both Jesus and the Spirit will speak the Father's Words to us. We don't have the task of the first
apostles who helped lay the doctrinal foundation of the Church, but we still seek to understand the
Word of God accurately.

Kaya nga po for us not to be led astray when reading the scripture, we go back to what the Church
teaches! Because as I’ve said, the doctrinal foundation of the Church has long been laid for us by the
Apostles, there’s no need for us to define or interpret it. Babasahin at uunawain na lang natin ito the
way that the Church defined and interpreted it for us.

But ofcourse, I would still encourage you to call on the Holy Spirit, the Reminder, the Explainer, the
Guide into all truth, to assist us to understand accurately the Father's words to our hearts.

Bible study should not be merely an intellectual exegetical exercise, but at the same time "a heart
seeking for truth" and in the words of St. Anselm, "Fides quaerens intellectum" meaning a "faith
seeking understanding!" A reminder to all Christians to seek God not only with our hearts but with
our minds as well. Sabi po sa Hosea 4:6 - "My people are ruined for lack of knowledge! Since you
have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as my priest. . ."