Readings and meditation on the Word of God on the 6th Sunday of Easter, May 25, 2025

Delivered by Jonathan Axel, Jovinson Tansil, Gregory Octaviano, dan Kezia Nikita from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 15: 1-2.22-29; Rs psalm 67: 2-3.5.6.8; Revelation 21: 10-14.22-23; John 14: 23-29.THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO IS CATHOLIC The title for our meditation on this 6thSunday of Easter is: The Holy Spirit Who is Catholic. We need to clarify theterm or name "Catholic" that we use here. The term"Catholic" here is not to put in comparation between theRoman-Catholic with the Pope as its head and other Christian denominations inthe Reformation movement. The term "Catholic" here refers to allChristians and believers who believe in Jesus Christ, the only Savior of theworld. If Christ is the principal reason forall of us to become "Catholics", then logically speaking, the HolySpirit is also Catholic, because Jesus Himself sends His Spirit to us. The eraof this world after Jesus Christ ascended into heaven is called the Age of theHoly Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit is the continuation of the work ofJesus Christ, whose main task is to renew the whole face of the earth and makeevery creation belong to God. The question is: how can we understandthat the Holy Spirit makes everything belong to God, and that is why He istruly Catholic? To answer this question, we need to depart from the Gospelreading of today, which says that the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus has a role toremind us of everything Jesus has taught and said. The role to teach everythingis an essential element of universality, namely the Catholic. The Holy Spiritworks totally and reaches a complete result. The fullness of our lives becomesthe fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit. The early Church in Jerusalem and anumber of cities around it realized that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,the Church truly became Catholic. The universal character of the Church as theword “Catholic” refers to, became the very important message of the Council ofJerusalem, with the mandate that all nations regardless of culture andbackgrounds can become disciples of the Lord and enter into the Church.Catholicism includes all people from all cultures, tribes, languages, races,religions, places and regions. In a short time, thanks to the hard work of Pauland Barnabas and a number of elected Church leaders, the face of the CatholicChurch became evident in the world and in the hearts of all people. As the Spirit of the Divine or God'sown Spirit, the role of the Holy Spirit is to sanctify this world and all thatdwell in it. The Apostle John's vision in the Book of Revelation shows that thefullness of God's grace, or holiness for all, is like a holy city, Jerusalem,came down from heaven and established on this earth. We are Catholics, so weneed to always be in the light of the Holy Spirit and always radiate thatlight.Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord Jesus Christ, may Your Spirit always be the light and powerto renew the whole face of the earth, and make it a holy city for all. OurFather who art in heaven ... In the name of the Father ...