For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation:
sin, because they do not believe in me;
righteousness, because I am going to the Father
and you will no longer see me;
condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
In the passage above, the Lord describes a process set in motion by his return to the Father. First, He will send the Advocate, whom we know as the Holy Spirit, to us. And when He comes, he will convict the world in regard to sin, righteousness, and condemnation. And then He explains those three convictions. They, with the finality of a courtroom procedure, will condemn the ruler of this world.
There is, apparently, only one "ruler of this world," and that is Satan. We should also never forget that this world's ruler stands under judgment while we stand under the mercy of God. Those who are called to holiness in the Lord's flock might not recognize the separation but the "ruler of this world" does. It is a chasm which cannot be crossed, spanned, or filled.
We have been set apart by our Baptism, and have grown in holiness as we received the Body and Blood of the Lord. All our sacraments, personal and communal prayers, studies, and good works train us in holiness and make us standout, peculiar, different. If we, like fish in water, do not notice our charism, the world notices. Without it, we are insipid; good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
Easter has reminded us that our home is in heaven with the Lord, who "has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him." (I Peter 3:22)
From there we pray with Him that the whole world, and our loved ones in particular, will be saved.
