Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.
We tend to think of Old Testament as revelations of God the Father, who sent the Son for the New Testament. After the ascension of Jesus in heaven and the gift of the Holy Spirit, some looked upon the Spirit as a replacement for Jesus, just as Jesus could have replaced the Father.
Oops. It did not happen this way. Jesus did not replace God, and the Spirit did not replace Jesus. If this were so, we would not have a Trinity, but three gods or a succession of gods.
It seems that some members of John’s community had been teaching that the Holy Spirit had replaced Jesus. John makes the point here that the Spirit’s task is to remind us of the words of Jesus and help us to understand the truth of these words.
In this passage Jesus is clarifying the role of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. The Spirit will continue the work of Jesus by reminding us of Jesus’ words and their truthful meaning.
The truth is that both the Holy Spirit and Christ are with the Father even before the creation of the universe. The revelation of Christ and the Holy Spirit was not given explicitly until later. The Father, Christ and the Holy Spirit are one, equal to each other, yet with distinct functions.
There are not three successions of God, an Old Testament God, a Jesus God of the New Testament, and a Holy Spirit God of John’s community. There is only one God (in three persons, as we would later explain the reality of God). The revelation of this one God is one because the word of God endures forever.
The same God created the universe, called forth a people rom Egypt, gave us the Bible, sent us God’s Son and poured forth the Holy Spirit. We are challenged to accept the wholeness and integrity of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.