Lesson for the Third Sunday of Easter

An Advocate Is More Than a Lawyer

In modern English, we use the word advocate in a legal sense. An advocate is a lawyer, someone who comes to our defence in a court of law. It had that meaning in the ancient world too, but it wasn't limited to that meaning.

The Greek word was "parakletos". It came from a verb that meant to call someone to your side to help or counsel you. If a king was facing rebellion or attack, he would "call to his side" his wisest and most respected advisors - they became his advocates.

If a man was in trouble in any way, he would "call in" someone who was trustworthy, strong, wise, and faithful, so that his trouble wouldn't destroy him, or so that he would at least receive comfort and encouragement in the midst of his pain and hardship. And so, the word "parakletos" or "advocate," in the biblical sense, has been defined as "one who lends his presence to his friends."

St John says in today's Reading that Jesus is our advocate. By his passion and death, he proved that he is "on our side," in the sense that he was willing to take the punishment for our sins upon himself. He was willing to suffer in our place and forgive us for our rebellions - both big and little - against him and his Kingdom.

Then, through the Resurrection and the Eucharist, he proved that he is STILL on our side, that he is alive forever to be our counsellor, defender, and comforter. Jesus truly is the "one who lends his presence to his friends," a presence both powerful and enlightening, both merciful and strengthening. That's what the word advocate means. But why is it so important for us to understand this? For two reasons.

Because We Have Sinned

First, we need Christ to be our advocate because we are sinners. We admit this publicly at the beginning of every Mass. We all have deep selfish tendencies in our hearts - tendencies towards greed, lust, envy, discouragement, impatience, anger, laziness, etc. And when we fall into temptation, letting these tendencies have their way, we damage our friendship with God and the world around us; we violate God's wise law that leads to happiness.

And so, through our sins and sinful tendencies, we are constantly separating ourselves from God, distancing ourselves from him. But Jesus, although he was tempted in every way that we are, never sinned. And so, when we find ourselves cut off from God, Jesus fills the breach. He comes to reunite us, to restore our friendship with God, to heal our wounds, to bridge the gap and fix the damage, to bring peace of mind to our anxious conscience.

St Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, a nun who lived in Renaissance Italy, was once praying in the convent chapel. At the same time, in the same chapel, another sister was going to confession. St Mary glanced over to the confessional and was given a vision of what was happening there, spiritually.

She saw an angel letting drops of Christ's blood fall from a chalice onto the sister as she knelt confessing her sins. The blood had scarcely touched her, and suddenly she began to shine like the sun.

St Mary Magdalen almost fainted, the sight was so beautiful. Immediately, she got up from the pew and hurried to the confessional herself, praying in a quiet voice, "Sprinkle me, too!"

Christ is our advocate with the Father; washed in his blood, our sins and sinful tendencies have no power to separate us from the grace of God. As St John put it in the Second Reading: "He [Jesus] is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world."

Because We Are Constantly Being Tempted

The second reason we need Christ to be our advocate is because we are constantly being tempted. At the end of today's Reading, St John explains that true followers of Christ don't just believe in the Lord, but they also follow him.

For Christians, faith and obedience always go together: "The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments." The old pagan religions and mystery cults, which were so popular in the Ancient Roman Empire, didn't make this connection. For those non-Christian religions, right and wrong were relative, changeable.

What mattered were religious rituals that stirred up divine feelings. Popular culture in our world is going in that same direction.

But our Catholic faith goes much deeper. We do have beautiful rituals and traditions, and often God does grant us a powerful feeling of his presence and goodness. But our friendship with Christ is not based on those feelings; it's based on loyalty and love.

He was so loyal to us that he died on a cross instead of giving up on us. And now he invites us to be loyal to him, to follow his commandments and the teachings of his Church. And he knows that's not easy, so he himself gives us his strength - through prayer, confession, and the Eucharist.

We are like sailors on the ship of the Church and Christ is our captain. If we truly believe in him, we will follow his orders. And yet, when the journey is hard, we are tempted to mutiny or to abandon ship. That's when we need to be reminded of his goodness and wisdom; we need to be strengthened to persevere and encouraged to weather the storm - we need an advocate. And we have one - all we have to do is look at the crucifix.

Letting Jesus Be Our Advocate

Jesus Christ wants to be our advocate, our protector, companion, guide, and counsellor, lending his presence to our lives at every moment. He died to prove how much he loved us, and he rose to prove how powerful his help can be. And we are weak and needy sinners; we are tempted every day to follow our selfish tendencies and tune him out.

Will we let him be our advocate? Will we turn to him each morning and evening, thanking him for his blessings and drawing our strength from the burning love of his merciful heart? He wants us to. And I think all of us want too as well.

As we continue with this holy Mass, let's thank Christ from the bottom of our hearts for all his gifts. And when he comes to us in Holy Communion, let's ask him to teach us how to let him be our Advocate. Nothing would please him more.