* VI Easter (A), April 27, 2008
* Theme: “I will send you another Advocate”

* The first reading from Acts of the Apostles chapter 8 has many surprises.
* Acts tells us today that through Philip’s preaching, “Samaria had accepted the word of God.”
* It is stated in a matter-of-fact way as if it were just a common event in their lives.
* However, this statement certainly must have caught the Apostles by surprise.
* In other passages of the New Testament we have heard of “the Samaritans”:
* For example, John recounts the story of the woman Jesus encounters at the well, when he paused for water in Samaritan territory (4:1-42).
* For the most part, the Samaritans lived around Mt. Gerizim.
* But some New Testament stories show some of them living among the Jews in their villages (Mt. 10: 5; Lk. 9:52).
* At first glance we may not realize the antagonism that existed between the Samaritans and the Jewish community.

* Jews and Samaritans had common ethnic roots, but they feuded with one another over matters both religious and legal.
* They also argued over the proper place for worship.
* The Jews claimed it was in Jerusalem; the Samaritans said it was on their Mt. Gerizim.
* The arguments were not just verbal; at times they boiled over into physical attacks and skirmishes.

* The book is called “The Acts of the Apostles,” but a more accurate name would be “The Acts of the Spirit.”
* As we read Acts through this Easter season, right up to Pentecost, it is clear that the Spirit is the main “character” in the book.
* Jesus instructed the disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and that then they would be Jesus’ witnesses.
* In today’s reading the Spirit of God is taking Philip were he and the Apostles never thought they would go – to Samaritan heretics
* Peter and John then go from Jerusalem to formalize the connection that the Spirit had inspired.
* (cf. Jude Siciliano)
* The Holy Spirit leads them and us beyond our self-circumscribed boundaries.

* On Friday, Blessed Sacrament hosted a meeting of Religious Leaders whose faith communities work with L. A. Voice – Community Organizing Network
* 2 Baptist Pastors
* 2 Episcopalian Priests (one a woman)
* 2 Jewish Rabbis
* 3 Catholic Priests
* One of the Baptist Pastors, Dr. George Cummings, led the conversation encouraging us to continue God’s work by bringing the broken pieces of creation together through the living of our faith and by our efforts to work for justice for all.
* It was powerful message that all of us could understand.
* The Spirit of God was working to shatter the barriers that divide our fractured religious world.

* The Gospel passage from John 14 that we read also talks about the Spirit
* It is kind of Jesus’ Last Will and Testament,
* Jesus wants to leave his disciples something of great value – not trinkets that will rust, or get lost,
* Rather, he wants to leave his disciples “The Pearl of Great Price” that will last forever.
* Jesus wants to leave something that will remind his disciples of him,
* To help them grow together,
* To get them through difficult times
* He promises to send them Another Advocate as their inheritance.
* The Advocate will remind us that Jesus demonstrated his love in hundreds of ways:
* Forgiving prostitutes and sinners
* Washing the feet of his disciples
* Offering his life on the cross
* The Advocate will urge us all not to give up in the face of difficulties: a bad marriage, trouble with the children, even the sexual abuse scandals in our Church.
* The Advocate will remind us that Jesus’ commandment is about taking care of one another, about working for a just world, about seeking peace between individuals and between nations, about thinking beyond ourselves.

* The Advocate that Jesus left – the Holy Spirit -
* Challenges us to go beyond our limited point of view
* As Philip did by going to the Samaritans
* As L. A. Voice is doing by bringing people of different denominational backgrounds together for the sake of the common good

* Jesus said, “Keep My Commandments” – “Love one another, as I have loved you.”
* Let us try to live our lives as Jesus commands, and trust the Spirit of Truth, God’s spirit, our Advocate, to lead us through the dark times in our personal lives as well as the dark times that we experience as a community and a world, and to bring us all to the light of a new day.

* Amen

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