Advocacy

Jesus said to his disciples:
“When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,
he will testify to me.
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.

The Advocate--too we often fail to give sufficient attention to what it means to have the help of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives.  Yet, help is exactly what we should expect.  Divine advocacy is also exactly what we should seek.

I have to admit that I have sometimes failed in my consideration of the gift of spiritual advocacy.  I have not sought the help that is available.  Anyone who ever felt bogged down in work, or with life in general, knows what I am talking about.  Nevertheless, in each and every mundane moment of our lives, we have access to supernatural assistance.  Every situation presents an opportunity for the divine to be present in our world.

Recently I experienced just the kind of "bogging down" that I am talking about.  It was something so pressing at work that I scarcely had time to do anything else--I'm referring to the state-mandated assessments that I mentioned in last week's post.  However, I knew that I would get through it and be able to return soon the regular routines of work and life.  Nothing really is too mundane to seek God's assistance with it.

Really, it's not work that typically challenges me the most, though it often has a way of taking time that I'd rather spend doing other things.  The greatest challenges I find are in being a husband and father, in having a teenage child, in meeting the responsibilities of the ordained ministry, and like everyone else, in facing the challenges of living in today's world with it many voices and influences.

The lesson to be learned is that God will provide us with the help we need when we ask, but we must ask.  I think it's important to ask frequently as well.  Honestly no two situations in our lives are identical, and each day--each situation--is such that we should pause and say "God help me.  Send the Holy Spirit to assist me.  Fill me afresh with the power of your presence."

Although in our need for divine advocacy most of us can relate best to everyday life, we shouldn't forget the second part of today's gospel reading.  It presents us with a grave context for seeking the help of the Advocate:

“I have told you this so that you may not fall away.
They will expel you from the synagogues;
in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you
will think he is offering worship to God.
They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.
I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.”

Dangerous times have certainly been a part of the history of being a Christian.  In too many ways western Christianity--American Christianity in particular--has been shielded and isolated from the fact that having faith could be easily be ticket to life in prison or even a death sentence.  Yet even in the gravest situations it is not the Lord's will that any of us fall away.  Just the help we need is present always.

Spiritual advocacy comes to us in a variety of ways.  Perhaps studying the word of God and seeking Christ in it is one way to invite God's help; being faithful to the Liturgy of the Hours might be another.  Daily prayer and devotion to the Mother of God is yet another way that we might invite the advocacy of the Holy Spirit.  When we put our minds to it, when we make a spiritual effort, many ways open that will allow God's power to help us.

As we begin our work week, we might pause for a moment and give thanks for the help that is available.  If you are anything like me, God's help is something that you will  welcome in each moment and not just in those times when things seem--or perhaps are--somewhat dire.  The key is remembering to ask for help.  When we ask, we are sure to receive.

 

Comments

[C.O.]

Amen. And in this ever-more-busy and cranky day and age, we don't go amiss to ask Him for an increase of joy, too--simply joy, despite whatever is going on. His joy puts everything into perspective, and feeds all around us as well as ourselves. Our joy, an offshoot of gratitude, gives Him pleasure, too. We can't find His joy without seeking it; some form of true daily communion is needed for that finding, too. One marvels that any of His can go singing to their deaths, or dropping flower petals onto His crucifix from their sickbeds..unless one has tasted their joy.

[Gabrielle]

Thanks, dd, for this powerful reminder of the help available to us at all times. I think it's so important for us to entrench ourselves in one or more of the ways you describe, re the variety of ways in which spiritual advocacy may come to us.