Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

“I will not leave you comfortless” (John 14:18)

The collect for this week comes from the famous passage in John’s gospel, in which Jesus promises the coming of the Holy Spirit:

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter” (verses 15-16).

This prayer leads us to the dynamic tension that exists in the present, and which we remember at the end of the Easter season, between Christ’s incarnation and his coming again in glory—a theme embedded in the feast of the Ascension. This idea was expressed in the ancient world by an Aramaic expression that handily possessed two emphases:

maran atha—the Lord has come
marana tha—the Lord is coming

We live in a world where God became man (Adam in the Hebrew) in the most fundamental and historical sense, and yet where the Son of God has also ascended into heaven.

Is God absent in our dynamic present, then, and does he speak to us?

To answer this question, we remember Jesus’ words in this Gospel, clearly stating that the Holy Spirit is given to prevent us from being alone—from being left “as orphans,” as one translation puts it. The Spirit lives within us, according to Jesus, keeping and reassuring us through his presence.

This Gospel passage leads us to a lovely antiphon for the Magnificat at the first Vespers of Pentecost, in a beautiful setting for five voices by William Byrd. This short work is full of graceful descending figures to the word “alleluia,” depicting the comforting presence of the Spirit.

Non vos relinquam orphanos, William Byrd (https://youtu.be/iz2mWv7TVwo)

Non vos reliquam orphanos. Alleluia. Vado, et venio ad vos. Alleluia. Et gaudebit cor vestrum. Alleluia.
I will not leave you comfortless. Alleluia. I will come to you. Alleluia. And your heart shall rejoice. Alleluia.

Yours in Christ,

—Justin