The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today connect our surrender to trust in God to our experience of the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
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| Trust in God |
The reading from the Letter to the Romans is a proclamation of how God’s Promise is realized through Faith.
* [4:15] Law has the negative function of bringing the deep-seated rebellion against God to the surface in specific sins; see note on Rom 1:18–32.1
Psalm 105 is a hymn to God who promised the land of Canaan to the holy people.
* [Psalm 105] A hymn to God who promised the land of Canaan to the holy people, cf. Ps 78; 106; 136. Israel is invited to praise and seek the presence of God (Ps 105:1–6), who is faithful to the promise of land to the ancestors (Ps 105:7–11). In every phase of the national story—the ancestors in the land of Canaan (Ps 105:12–15), Joseph in Egypt (Ps 105:16–22), Israel in Egypt (Ps 105:23–38), Israel in the desert on the way to Canaan (Ps 105:39–45)—God remained faithful, reiterating the promise of the land to successive servants.2
Jesus presents some sayings about the Holy Spirit and our response in the Gospel of Luke.
* [12:10–12] The sayings about the holy Spirit are set in the context of fearlessness in the face of persecution (Lk 12:2–9; cf. Mt 12:31–32). The holy Spirit will be presented in Luke’s second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, as the power responsible for the guidance of the Christian mission and the source of courage in the face of persecution.3
Don Schwager quotes “The Holy Spirit will inspire martyrs and teach believers,” by Cyril of Jerusalem, 430-543 A.D.
"You must also know that the Holy Spirit empowers the martyrs to bear witness... A person cannot testify as a martyr for Christ's sake except through the Holy Spirit. If 'no man can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit' (1 Corinthians 12:3), will any man give his life for Jesus' sake except through the Holy Spirit?" (excerpt from CATECHETICAL LECTURES 16.21)4
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 12:8-12 comments that one way someone might blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is to say that he doesn’t need Jesus. It’s folly to ignore the Spirit’s urgings and to try to continue to go it alone.
But how do these words apply to those of us who already know our need for the Lord? Well, maybe we haven’t rejected God’s mercy outright, but there may still be ways that we are compromising. For example, perhaps you sense the Spirit pointing out a particular sin to you. Maybe your conscience is bothering you, or a family member or friend brings up a weakness or failing. Unfortunately, it can be easy to ignore these “distress signals” from the Spirit because it’s just too painful or difficult to confront the sin and try to deal with it.5
Friar Jude Winkler explores the rabbinic technique of Paul in extending Abraham as the Father of Faith for all nations. Blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is to accept the falsehood that our guilt is greater than the Love of God. Friar Jude reminds that the source of wisdom we experience as the Holy Spirit is a downpayment of the Love of God to which we are invited.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares that the rubber of transformation meets the road in practice, in actual encounters with real life. The practice exercise today involves mindfulness in eating one raisin.
I continue to encourage you to try something new: change sides, move outside your comfort zone, make some new contacts, let go of your usual role and attractive self-image, walk or take a bus instead of drive, make a friend from another race or class, visit new neighborhoods, go to the jail or to the border, attend another church service, etc. Without new experiences, new thinking is difficult and rare. After a new experience, new thinking and behavior comes naturally and even becomes necessary.6
Our experience of faith when frequently renewed in daily experience reminds us of the Presence of the Holy Spirit and our contemplation of reality opens our eyes to greater possibilities of knowing goodness, beauty, and truth.
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