The Paraclete by Mark P. Shea

As we enter Holy Week, it is good to focus our minds on the matter that occupied Jesus in His final hours before His Passion, that we might imitate the mind of Christ. Therefore, I thought we might take a little time and look at what is called the Last Supper Discourse in the Gospel of John (Jn 13-17).

In the Last Supper Discourse, Jesus warns His disciples that they will suffer as He is about to suffer. But He does not speak only of suffering, nor does He expect them to stoically bear such suffering by sheer will power. Indeed, as He has already warned Peter, He knows they cannot, humanly speaking, weather the storm they are about to face, nor the storms the Church will face in the future (Jn 13:38). As they are soon to find out, they will all abandon Him. That is the best their fallen humanity can do.

But Jesus is not going to leave the apostles to their fallen humanity. He promises again to send the "Paraclete." A look at the way in which Jesus speaks of the Paraclete throughout the Last Supper discourse is vital to understanding this great gift of God: the Holy Spirit.

Read entire article on the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit here from Inside Catholic