Keeping the Gospel Fresh

Early spring morning from my back door.
I said in the last entry that "paraclete" literally means "one called alongside."  In today's Gospel passage Jesus calls our attention to what is, perhaps, the most important function of the Holy Spirit, "The Paraclete...will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.(John 14:26)"  The Paraclete is called alongside us to keep the Gospel fresh.
The Paraclete is someone just like Jesus who is a powerful substitute for Jesus. This Holy Spirit is not only called alongside us, but lives within us and helps us to preserve the teachings of Jesus and to find ways to express them in modern terms.  The Paraclete gives us new insights into past revelation.  He guides Christians in every age to deal with entirely different issues in very different cultures.  This guidance is active in individual Church members as well as in Church leaders.
Putting our trust in the Paraclete enables all of us to work together to combine valid tradition with new insights.  In that way the Paraclete operating within all of us keeps the Gospel springtime fresh.