A Full Ration of the Holy Spirit

Homily for Thursday of the Second Week in Easter

The verses that we proclaim today from the Gospel of St. John are the last verses of chapter three. The chapter began with a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. However, after that conversation, Jesus and his disciples move off to a place called “Aenon near Salim, and we are told that John the Baptist” is baptizing in this area. While Jesus and his disciples spend some time together, John engages his own disciples in conversation. It is in the midst of that conversation that the famous words, “He must increase; I must decrease” are spoken by the Baptist. It is at this point that we pick up the conversation.

John distinguishes himself from Jesus by saying, “the one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.” He goes on to say that although he speaks of earthly things, what he says is truthful; but his testimony is not accepted by all. It is in this context that John makes another important comment: “He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.”

Though most of the people who lived through the last world war are now deceased, there are still a few who remember a time when goods and food were rationed so that everyone would have something rather than some having everything. Rationing is a way of measuring and distributing the necessities of life when they were not as readily available as people may have been the accustomed. Human beings tend to hoard things when they are in short supply.

When John says that God does not ration the gift of the Spirit, he is commenting on the fact that both he and Jesus, the one who was sent from above, speak the words of the Spirit, words that need to be accepted if one wishes to have eternal life.

It is quite interesting that Jesus and John are in the same locality when these words are uttered. Aenon of Salim is a geographical place. The word “Aenon” means “spring.” The word “Salim” means “peace.” St. John the evangelist chose this place to emphasize that both John and Jesus are springs of the Holy Spirit, and that peace is found in the Holy Spirit. John realizes that his time is coming to an end and that his disciples will feel lost when he has been taken from them. However, they can find peace after he is gone in the words of Jesus because both he and Jesus have been given a full ration of the Holy Spirit.

Through baptism, we have received that Holy Spirit in full measure. Nothing has been withheld from us. The grace of God, the life of God, is with us now and until we find ourselves in God’s kingdom of heaven.