In the last parish we served in England, we had amongst our regular attendees, a woman with learning difficulties who was also unable to speak. When preparing for confirmation one year it became known that this woman wanted to be confirmed. However, how did we know this was her decision as she couldn’t communicate her decision in the usually accepted ways? Eventually I was asked to attend a case conference at the woman’s residential home where carers, myself and her advocate were present to determine how we should proceed.
We went back and forth for a for about half an hour trying to work out if this person did want to be confirmed. Eventually one of her careers said: six days of the week, this woman rarely wanted to get up in a hurry, was slow getting washed and dressed, and took her time eating breakfast. Yet on Sundays she was up, dressed and ready to leave for church by 9am. Her advocate, (who had a major part in the decision), said that was good enough for her. The woman was duly prepared and confirmed by our bishop. Ever since the word advocate, as it appears in the gospel text today, takes on for me special and profound meaning.
In our lives there are times when we require an advocate to assist us and other times when we act as an advocate for someone else. They can speak for us, guide or direct us, but ultimately what we do, or don’t do, is up to us. It is the same with the Holy Spirit. We can be guided or directed to follow the way of God, or we can choose not to follow. The decision is ours, and we are reminded today that our advocate, the Holy Spirit can support and encourage us on our journey.
Father Stephen Rowe