The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary stir
up the desire of people to know life with peace and joy. The prophet Isaiah speaks
of a radical change in the relationship between God and Israel where the anointed
messiah from God will by His Presence generate a peace and caring justice
throughout the nations so that natural enemies will be reconciled and the needs
of the marginalized addressed. The Spirit of God will permeate society with the
multitude of perfect gifts like wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, the
spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Friar Jude Winkler reminds us
that the seven gifts of the Spirit symbolize, through the Hebrew understanding
of the number 7, the perfection or completeness of spiritual gifts. The
understanding of “fear” of the Lord is the overwhelming awe which the
experience of such Divine Presence invokes. How do we move the wonderful image
of Shalom created by Isaiah to realization? The Gospel of Luke invites us to
join Jesus in praise of the wisdom of the Father in revealing the understanding
of building and living Father-Son relationships today through the power of the
Holy Spirit to the unencumbered, sincere, naive, childlike, open, patient and
gracious people with whom we live. The illumination of the eyes of Jesus on the
people will open us to the relationships which can transform people to practice
Shalom in His Presence.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment