St. Philip Catholic Church: Well, we're close to the ⁓ of the Easter season. Next week is Ascension, and the following week is Pentecost. And so the today, and in for the last two weeks, have ⁓ all focused on us these feasts. and they've emphasized two ideas, hope and the Holy Spirit. St. Peter's instruction in our second reading captures that first theme. be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for reason for your hope. A reason for your hope. Our reason is simple. Until the resurrection of Jesus, things that died stayed dead. This is no longer true. God raised Christ in his human nature, ⁓ nature, from death ⁓ life. God has shown that as result ⁓ of ⁓ obedience, We can conquer death. That is our hope. Christ is the reason for our hope. But it's still tough being human with all our doubts and fears. Keeping hope alive can be a real struggle at times. Christ knew that. And he knew that when he ascended to the Father, his would be filled with doubt and fear. So in our gospel, he tells them that he is going to send them an advocate. Now that word in Greek could just as easily be translated comforter, consular, paraclete. The Holy Spirit has always been difficult to name. Remember we used to call it the Holy Ghost? Some years ago, group of ⁓ scripture attempted to translate ⁓ the Testament into the Gaure ⁓ language. is language of a ⁓ isolated tribe equatorial When the scholars came today's from the Gospel of John, they realized that the Ga'are language had no word for advocate or comforter or counselor. So they came up with a unique solution. They noticed that in the life of the tribe, when a group would go out for a journey into the bush country, Each member of the group would carry their provisions their head in a little bag. Everyone would have a bundle to carry except for one person. He carried nothing. The scholars originally thought this must be the boss. Al-Hafey. But they were wrong. The person who carried nothing had a unique job. If anyone in the group fell down because of exhaustion and heat, this person would fall down beside him and pick up his burden, pick up his basket, his provisions, and carry it. In the Garay language, this person was called The one who falls down beside us. The scholars decided to use this word name the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one who falls down beside us. To take up the burdens we can no longer carry on our What a beautiful image to describe the spirit of God alive in our lives. When we face trouble our marriage or with our children and try ⁓ over over again to make things better without any success, the burden of that pain can press us down and rob us of hope. Then we need to believe that the Holy Spirit will fall down beside us lift up our so that we can have hope again. When a friend rejects us or when someone we love walks out our life, That loss and rejection can paralyze us. push us to despair. then we need to believe that the Spirit of God will come upon us so that we can believe that life can begin again. when our health fails and the pain and the fear illness presses us down. We need to trust that God will come to us and lift us ⁓ so that we can continue our journey. The Spirit ⁓ God's presence walking with us on the journey of life. The Spirit is God's strength, waiting to pick us ⁓ and to pick up our burdens when our strength is gone. In May, and especially on Mother's Day, there's no better example of hope in the Holy Spirit than Mother's and Mary. In spite of all the unknowns and being told that her heart would be pierced by a sword, the hope-filled Mary said yes. and hope itself. took on human flesh. It is mothers who day after day, spite of their own exhaustion, pick us ⁓ and walk with us through life's journey. May God bless and fill all mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers with hope and the Holy Spirit today and every day.