During the years he spent with his apostles, Jesus had spoken very often of THE Father, HIS Father.
I imagine that they had, somehow, got an idea of who he was… God, the God of their ancestors, and Jesus was his special messenger.
But the HOLY SPIRIT…?…
I ask myself what the apostles understood when Jesus mentioned him.
Of course, there is a mention of the spirit hovering over the waters in the creation narrative (Gn.1:2).
The book of Wisdom also speaks of God’s Spirit (Wis.1:6).
But in today’s gospel (6th Sunday of Easter, Year A – Jn. 14:15-21), Jesus describes THE Spirit – the one the Father will send in his name – as a living being that will interact with the apostles.
“I shall ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate,
to be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth…
He is with you, he is in you.”
The apostles discovered the deep meaning of this reality – the reality of this special Presence of God – throughout their lives.
The same is to take place in our own lives… from day to day.