This “footsteps in the sand” Jesus picture has been consoling for many people. The single footsteps in the sand represent a complaint many believers make to Jesus at some point in their lives: Where were you, Lord, when I needed you? To which Jesus replies: “During your times of trial and suffering, it was then that I carried you.” Today’s Gospel is part of Jesus’ final words to his disciples at the Last Supper, a sort of farewell address to them before his crucifixion: “… I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth … I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
“Advocate” has multiple meanings, like helper or intercessor, or comforter. It’s a sort of “I’ve got your back” promise from Jesus to his followers and to us. Today, spiritual writers speak about this quality of God the “advocate” as “accompaniment.” The disciples, who were Jewish, perhaps initially heard Jesus’ words as like those of Psalm 68, which speaks of God’s protection for widows and orphans, or perhaps as the motherly love of God who never forgets her children (Is 49:15). But when it happened, and the Spirit fell upon them at Pentecost, they began understanding that the Spirit Advocate was a “sending-forth” God, a God nudging them, like children being launched, to be witnesses. For unlike the Jewish faith, Christians are not genetic descendants of their Jewish mothers. They are people of many nations who have come to believe in the Christ.
Next week we celebrate the solemnity of the Ascension, and the following week, Pentecost. We give thanks today for all those spirit-filled Christians who have nudged us, helped us continue to believe. Especially today on Mother’s Day, we thank all mothers who are often the keepers of faith in our families. May they feel the accompaniment of Jesus walking with them in a special way today.
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia
The post May 10, Sixth Sunday of Easter, The Advocate: a Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood.