Catechesis Notes for the Week — Comforting Catechesis on the Holy Spirit, the Comforter — This week’s Bible narratives continue Jesus’ comforting catechesis in the upper room. In this discourse, He prepares the Apostles and the Church of future generations concerning the Work of the Holy Spirit and what they are to expect. The Holy Spirit works through the Word of the Gospel to call to repentance and faith in Christ. The Spirit does this by convicting us of our sin, proclaiming the righteousness of Christ in His death, and proclaiming God’s judgment against the ruler of this world who stands condemned and has no power to condemn us. By the Word of the Gospel of Jesus’ suffering and death, we learn that Our Sorrow Will Turn to Joy. By the certain promises of His Word, we are encouraged to Ask and You will Receive. And in Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer we learn that Jesus is praying for us and that Jesus Prays for the Apostles and for those who will believe in Jesus through their Word, that they and the Church of every generation might be sanctified by Jesus’ Word and abide in His name to the end. Against the backdrop of Jesus’ catechesis we cannot help but think of the work of the Holy Spirit as described in the Catechism: “He calls us by the Gospel, sanctifies and keeps us in the true faith…even as He calls, gathers, and enlightens the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”CP230507