The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today urge us to contemplate the role of the Holy Spirit in awakening us to opportunities for humility and service as Jesus disciples.
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| Inspired day |
In the Reading from Acts, the Spirit works with the Imprisonment of Paul and Silas at Philippi.
* [16:11–40] The church at Philippi became a flourishing community to which Paul addressed one of his letters (see Introduction to the Letter to the Philippians).1
Psalm 138 is a thanksgiving to God, who came to the rescue of the psalmist. This is a public act that stirs the surrounding nations to praise God’s greatness and care for the people.
* [Psalm 138] A thanksgiving to God, who came to the rescue of the psalmist. Divine rescue was not the result of the psalmist’s virtues but of God’s loving fidelity (Ps 138:1–3). The act is not a private transaction but a public act that stirs the surrounding nations to praise God’s greatness and care for the people (Ps 138:4–6). The psalmist, having experienced salvation, trusts that God will always be there in moments of danger (Ps 138:7–8).2
In the Gospel from John Jesus announces His Departure and the Coming of the Advocate to build conviction.
* [16:8–11] These verses illustrate the forensic character of the Paraclete’s role: in the forum of the disciples’ conscience he prosecutes the world. He leads believers to see (a) that the basic sin was and is refusal to believe in Jesus; (b) that, although Jesus was found guilty and apparently died in disgrace, in reality righteousness has triumphed, for Jesus has returned to his Father; (c) finally, that it is the ruler of this world, Satan, who has been condemned through Jesus’ death (Jn 12:32).3
Michael Cherney wonders how often his statements and action were instead a function of his own ego, a wish to be admired at work or even a desire to be the center of attention.
In the Tale of the Two Wolves, a Cherokee elder describes the conflict that might be found inside of everyone. There is the bad wolf embodying envy, greed and resentment. There is also the good wolf embodying humility, empathy and compassion. A young boy asks the elder which wolf will win. The elder responds “the one that gets fed”... My prayer today is to feed the good wolf being more aware of all of its subtleties and remembering that Jesus did not abandon his disciples; he promised them the Advocate, the Spirit.4
Don Schwager quotes “Whatever is not of faith is sin,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"When the Lord said of the Holy Spirit, 'He shall convict the world of sin,' he meant unbelief. For this is what he meant when he said, “Of sin because they believed not on me.' And he means the same when he says, 'If I had not come and spoken to them, they should not have sin.' (John 15:22). He was not talking about [a time] before they had no sin. Rather, he wanted to indicate that very lack of faith by which they did not believe him even when he was present to them and speaking to them. These were the people who belonged to 'the prince of the power of the air, who now works in the children of unbelief' (Ephesians 2:2). Therefore those in whom there is no faith are the children of the devil because they have nothing in their inner being that would cause them to be forgiven for whatever is committed either by human infirmity, ignorance or any evil will whatever. But the children of God are those who certainly, if they should 'say that they have no sin, deceive themselves, and the truth is not in them,' but immediately (as it continues) 'when they confess their sins' (which the children of the devil do not do, or do not do according to the faith which is peculiar to the children of God), 'he is faithful and just to forgive them their sins and to cleanse them from all unrighteousness'" (1 John 1:9). (excerpt from AGAINST TWO LETTERS OF THE PELAGIANS 3.4)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 16:5-11 comments that Jesus had just told his friends that he was about to be put to death. It’s natural to expect fear and grief to overwhelm them. Not only was their leader about to leave them—apparently without ushering in the kingdom they were waiting for—but their lives could also be in danger. And yet he tells them that it’s better for them that all of this happen. How is that possible? The answer, as in so many other passages, is the Holy Spirit.
Guess what? The Holy Spirit wasn’t just for the early Church. He’s in you as well! He is also at work in your family, your neighborhood, and your workplace. He’s there to help you understand God’s word in a deeper way. He’s there to help you listen patiently to someone who is hurting and feels alone. He’s there to inspire you with a solution for a persistent problem. He’s there to give you the strength to walk through the problems that have no solution. And through it all, he is there to help you love Jesus more.6
Friar Jude Winkler is inspired that the Spirit turned the curse of imprisonment of Paul and Silas into the blessing of conversion for the jailer and his family. Our openness to Spirit creates the opportunity for everything we do to be an occasion for charity. Friar Jude reminds us of the dualism in John’s Gospel where sin is not believing in Jesus and the Cross is the defeat of hate by Love.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, exhorts that If we can trust and listen to our inner divine image, our whole-making instinct, or our True Self, we will act from our best, largest, kindest, most inclusive self. He would also like to add “our most compassionately dissatisfied self” because the soul’s journey invites us to infinite depth that we can never fully plumb!
We must learn how to recognize the positive flow and to distinguish it from the negative resistance within ourselves. It takes years of practice. If a voice comes from accusation and leads to accusation, it is quite simply the voice of the “Accuser,” which is the literal meaning of the biblical word “Satan.” Shaming, accusing, or blaming is simply not how God talks. God is supremely nonviolent. God only cajoles, softens, and invites us into an always bigger field and it is always a unified field.7
Life in the Spirit turns difficulties into opportunities to experience Grace as we strive to follow the inspiration to feed the Good Wolf.
References
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(n.d.). Acts, chapter 16 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 28, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/16
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(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 138 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 28, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/138
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(n.d.). John, chapter 16 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 28, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/16
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(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved May 28, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
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(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 28, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
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(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved May 28, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/05/28
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(2019, May 28). The Voice of God — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 28, 2019, from https://cac.org/the-voice-of-god-2019-05-28/
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