Acts 14:5-18 / John 14:21-26
Among the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom and knowledge, and understanding and right judgement.
These are not just seen as human endowment, but as a divine gift that helps a person to discern the ways of God and to act on it.
The 1st reading gives a typical example of how these gifts of the Holy Spirit are manifested in the ministry of the Church.
At Lycaonia, St. Paul was preaching when he saw a man who was crippled from birth.
Seeing that the man had the faith to be cured, St. Paul said in a loud voice, "Get to your feet - stand up" and the cripple jumped up and began to walk.
St. Paul was preaching the Good News and that had prepared the faith of those who were listening, and he was certainly moved by the Holy Spirit to say those words and to perform the miracle.
In the gospel, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit "the Advocate". An advocate is a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of another person.
The Holy Spirit is the Advocate that God has sent to help us and to support us in our time of need and to protect and defend us from harm and evil.
In our prayer, let us ask for the gifts of wisdom and knowledge, understanding and right judgement, so that we will be able to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and carry out the will of God.