Our Venerable Father Pachomius the Great (346); Post-feast of the Ascension
Acts 20:7-12; John 14:10-21
Read John 14:10-21
Today in our reading, Christ promises his disciples that they will be given another Helper once He has ascended to His Father. The Comforter, or Paraclete in Greek- from the words “called to stand by one’s side.” The Holy Spirit is our advocate who defends us in the truth and at the same time convicts the world. He stands beside us, dwells with us and lives in us.
Our Lord also promises us that whatever we ask in His name He will give to us. A privileged prayer for this purpose, handed down to us from the Holy Tradition of the Church, is the Jesus Prayer: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This prayer repeated over and over with every breath and in every circumstance is a way of maintaining connection with Christ in the Holy Spirit.
The scripture scholar NT Wright in commenting on this passage states: “Praying ‘in Jesus’ name’, then, means that, as we get to know who Jesus is, so we find ourselves drawn into his life and love and sense of purpose. We will then begin to see what needs doing, what we should be aiming at within our sphere of possibilities, and what resources we need to do it. When we then ask, it will be ‘in Jesus’ name’, and to his glory; and, through that, to the glory of the father himself (verse 13). But, when all this is understood, we shouldn’t go soft on that marvelous word anything. He said it, and he means it.[1]”
[1] T. Wright, John for Everyone, Part 2 (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 64.