Spirit of Truth

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to be open to the expansion of our ideas on how we understand and respond to the relationship of humanity to the Divine.

In A Spirit of Truth

The Reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes Paul in Athens and his Speech at the Areopagus.

* [17:22–31] In Paul’s appearance at the Areopagus he preaches his climactic speech to Gentiles in the cultural center of the ancient world. The speech is more theological than christological. Paul’s discourse appeals to the Greek world’s belief in divinity as responsible for the origin and existence of the universe. It contests the common belief in a multiplicity of gods supposedly exerting their powers through their images. It acknowledges that the attempt to find God is a constant human endeavor. It declares, further, that God is the judge of the human race, that the time of the judgment has been determined, and that it will be executed through a man whom God raised from the dead. The speech reflects sympathy with pagan religiosity, handles the subject of idol worship gently, and appeals for a new examination of divinity, not from the standpoint of creation but from the standpoint of judgment.

* [17:23] ‘To an Unknown God’: ancient authors such as Pausanias, Philostratus, and Tertullian speak of Athenian altars with no specific dedication as altars of “unknown gods” or “nameless altars.”

* [17:26] From one: many manuscripts read “from one blood.” Fixed…seasons: or “fixed limits to the epochs.”

* [17:28] ‘In him we live and move and have our being’: some scholars understand this saying to be based on an earlier saying of Epimenides of Knossos (6th century B.C.). ‘For we too are his offspring’: here Paul is quoting Aratus of Soli, a third-century B.C. poet from Cilicia. (Acts of the Apostles,CHAPTER 17 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 148 invites all beings to praise God.

* [Psalm 148] A hymn inviting the beings of heaven (Ps 148:1–6) and of earth (Ps 148:7–14) to praise God. The hymn does not distinguish between inanimate and animate (and rational) nature. (Psalms, PSALM 148 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus proclaims an interpretation of the role of the Spirit.

* [16:13] Declare to you the things that are coming: not a reference to new predictions about the future, but interpretation of what has already occurred or been said. (John, CHAPTER 16 | USCCB, n.d.)

Barbara Dilly comments that Jesus did not give us a list of detailed instructions for everything that was going to happen to each of us in every time and place. Rather, he gave us specific principles associated with love, trust, truth, and hope, from which to base our relationships with God and each other.

I have learned through my faith traditions that we must listen to the Spirit of truth revealed to each of us in love, and hope. In this way, the Spirit frees us from an exhaustive and incomplete list of rules, practices, and traditions that are never open to reinterpretation in current times and places. That does not mean we are all left to our own devices. We do best when we identify with religious traditions that value scholarly inquiry into the works of the Spirit, inspired preaching, and a community of believers who study the Word of God with each other. We also do best when we listen to the lived lives of our brothers and sisters undergoing struggle and pain for the voice of the Spirit among us to guide us in ways of love, truth, and hope. I pray today for that Spirit to reveal itself even more strongly in our midst. (Dilly, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes The Spirit makes Christ known, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"He [the Holy Spirit] will make me clearly known by pouring love into the hearts of believers and making them spiritual and thus able to see that the Son whom they had known before only according to the flesh - and who they thought was only a man like themselves - was equal to the Father. Or at least, when his love filled them with boldness and cast out fear, they would proclaim Christ to men and women, and in this way they would spread Christ's fame throughout the whole world... For what they were going to do in the power of the Holy Spirit, this the Holy Spirit says he does himself." (excerpt from TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 100.1) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 17:15, 22–18:1 comments that the Creator of all space and time is not far from you. Or as St. Augustine wrote, God is interior “intimo meo”—he is more inward than your innermost self. What’s more, the God who is present in you looks on you with love, mercy, and goodwill. His presence within you is not for condemnation, even though he knows the complete truth about you. Even when he sees your sins and weaknesses, he sees a child whom he loves and longs to heal and restore.

In the quiet of prayer today, know that your Father is with you. Believe that he loves you personally and with a joy-filled, sin-forgiving, transforming love. It’s this love that moved God to become man in Jesus Christ, that propelled Paul and all the apostles to preach to the nations, and that is now available to you today. It’s true; the One who created the galaxies knows you individually. He is filled with love for you. He wants nothing but good for you. So seek him today; he is not far from you!

“Father, I know you are here with me!” (Meditation on Acts 17:15, 22–18:1, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles Paul goes to Athens and to the Areopagus, a great place for debate of new ideas. Paul notes they worship an unknown god.  As Stoics, they accept a few of Paul's arguments but not rising from the dead. Stoics understand the soul as imprisoned in the body and some even use fasting to be less material, as a Stoic excess. In the Gospel of John, Jesus continues the Last Supper Discourse identifying the Spirit of truth to remind the community of the Jesus teaching and continue to reveal the truth. The Spirit will continue, as seen in the Acts of the Apostles, to guide in the Church. Friar Jude comments that we share Jesus' relationship with the Father through the Spirit in the Trinity.

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces spiritual teacher and translator Mirabai Starr describes how Julian’s positive experience of God sustained her when things were not “well” in the world around her.

Julian unpacks this for us [in chapter 27]. In doing so she dispenses with the whole concept of sin and replaces it with love. “I believe that sin has no substance,” Julian writes, “not a particle of being.” While sin itself has no existential value, it has impact. It causes pain. It is the pain that has substance.

But mercy is swiftly forthcoming. It is immediately available. Inexorable! It is frankly rude of us to doubt that all will be well (and all will be well and every kind of thing shall be well). “When he said these gentle words,” Julian writes, speaking of God-the-Mother, “he showed me that he does not have one iota of blame for me, or for any other person. So, wouldn’t it be unkind of me to blame God for my transgressions since he does not blame me?” The merciful nature of God renders the whole blame game obsolete….

For those of us who do not subscribe to a belief in some perfect afterworld but, rather, are focused on making things better right here on Earth, this teaching may feel disconnected. But what Julian is saying, with heartbreaking compassion, is that we cannot know this now, from our limited, pain-drenched perspective. Yet eventually we will awaken to the truth that we are unconditionally adored by God. (Rohr, n.d.)

We contemplate the Truth revealed by the Spirit about the Love of God that is the force that inspires our action to strive for “all will be well” in our environment.

References

Acts of the Apostles,CHAPTER 17 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 13, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/17?15 

Dilly, B. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved May 13, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-may-13-2026 

John, CHAPTER 16 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 13, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/16?12 

Meditation on Acts 17:15, 22–18:1. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved May 13, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/05/13/1563390/ 

Psalms, PSALM 148 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved May 13, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/148? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Will All Be Well? Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 13, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/will-all-be-well/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Holy Spirit Will Guide You into All the Truth. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 13, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Walk in His Presence

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to walk with Jesus on our journey with our sorrows and joys as we hear testimony, experience Presence, and abide in His Love.

Walking and Wonder

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles presents the Appearance of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus.

* [24:13–35] This episode focuses on the interpretation of scripture by the risen Jesus and the recognition of him in the breaking of the bread. The references to the quotations of scripture and explanation of it (Lk 24:25–27), the kerygmatic proclamation (Lk 24:34), and the liturgical gesture (Lk 24:30) suggest that the episode is primarily catechetical and liturgical rather than apologetic.

* [24:13] Seven miles: literally, “sixty stades.” A stade was 607 feet. Some manuscripts read “160 stades” or more than eighteen miles. The exact location of Emmaus is disputed.

* [24:16] A consistent feature of the resurrection stories is that the risen Jesus was different and initially unrecognizable (Lk 24:37; Mk 16:12; Jn 20:14; 21:4).

* [24:26] That the Messiah should suffer…: Luke is the only New Testament writer to speak explicitly of a suffering Messiah (Lk 24:26, 46; Acts 3:18; 17:3; 26:23). The idea of a suffering Messiah is not found in the Old Testament or in other Jewish literature prior to the New Testament period, although the idea is hinted at in Mk 8:31–33. See notes on Mt 26:63 and 26:67–68. (Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 105 is a Hymn to God .

* [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. (Psalms, PSALM 105 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Luke presents the Appearance of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus.

* [24:13–35] This episode focuses on the interpretation of scripture by the risen Jesus and the recognition of him in the breaking of the bread. The references to the quotations of scripture and explanation of it (Lk 24:25–27), the kerygmatic proclamation (Lk 24:34), and the liturgical gesture (Lk 24:30) suggest that the episode is primarily catechetical and liturgical rather than apologetic.

* [24:13] Seven miles: literally, “sixty stades.” A stade was 607 feet. Some manuscripts read “160 stades” or more than eighteen miles. The exact location of Emmaus is disputed.

* [24:16] A consistent feature of the resurrection stories is that the risen Jesus was different and initially unrecognizable (Lk 24:37; Mk 16:12; Jn 20:14; 21:4).

* [24:26] That the Messiah should suffer…: Luke is the only New Testament writer to speak explicitly of a suffering Messiah (Lk 24:26, 46; Acts 3:18; 17:3; 26:23). The idea of a suffering Messiah is not found in the Old Testament or in other Jewish literature prior to the New Testament period, although the idea is hinted at in Mk 8:31–33. See notes on Mt 26:63 and 26:67–68. (Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB, n.d.)

Susan Naatz shares about someone who shared her pain.  As we listened to the story of how our mother helped pave the way for Peg to flourish and be successful, we realized that we were not alone in our grief.  Her solidarity comforted us.

Jesus walked into the lives of the disciples on the road to Emmaus.  He listened, blessed and broke bread with them and as they recognized him, their shattered hearts became hearts of love which were burning within.  They were not alone.

The compassionate person walks across the bridge into the life of another saying along the way, ‘you are not alone, I am with you.’ (Naatz, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes quotes “The Easter Alleluia,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

Now therefore, brethren, we urge you to praise God. That is what we are all telling each other when we say Alleluia. You say to your neighbor, "Praise the Lord!" and he says the same to you. We are all urging one another to praise the Lord, and all thereby doing what each of us urges the other to do. But see that your praise comes from your whole being; in other words, see that you praise God not with your lips and voices alone, but with your minds, your lives and all your actions." (excerpt from commentary on Psalm 148) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 24:13-35 exhorts us to fix our mind and heart on the risen Christ. God was able to transform the terrible events of his passion into the glory of the resurrection. But because he knew that we are often “slow to believe,” he gave us a lasting reminder of all that he has done for us: Jesus himself, present in the Eucharist. Just as the Emmaus disciples recognized him in the breaking of the bread, we can recognize his presence with us every time we “break bread” at the table of the Lord.

This Easter season, Jesus wants us to remember that he has held nothing back from us. He went so far as to give us his only Son, both on the cross and in the Eucharist. Let him reassure you that, however dark a situation may seem, you can always trust him.

“Jesus, thank you for the precious gift of your Body and Blood!” (Meditation on Luke 24:13-35, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on how Peter and John are doing, in the name of Jesus, what He had done even as they continue to pray as Jews in the Temple. Acts of the Apostles may be seen as the second version by Luke of Jesus' action set after the Ascension. Perhaps “we” are the unidentified person walking with Jesus to Emmaus. Luke, as a Stoic, may have favoured the gradual revelation of God’s Plan to us. Friar Jude identifies the teaching, Sacraments, Word, and personal encounter aspects of our experience of revelation of Christ.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares how we can receive the miracle of new life by embracing our own difficulties and “deaths” as Jesus did.  Jesus’ death and resurrection is a statement of how reality works all the time and everywhere. He teaches us that there’s a different way to live with our pain, our sadness, and our suffering. We can say, “Woe is me,” and feel sorry for ourselves, or we can say, “God is even in this.” 

None of us crosses over this gap from death to new life by our own effort, our own merit, our own purity, or our own perfection. Each of us—from pope to president, from princess to peasant—is carried across by unearned grace. Worthiness is never the ticket, only deep desire. With that desire the tomb is always, finally empty, as Mary Magdalene discovered on Easter morning. Death cannot win. We’re finally indestructible when we recognize that the thing which could destroy us is the very thing that could enlighten us.  

Friends, the Easter feast is a reminder to all of us to open our eyes and our ears and to witness what is happening all around us, all the time, everywhere. God’s one and only job description is to turn death into life. That’s what God does with every new springtime, every new life, every new season, every new anything. God is the one who always turns death into life, and no one who trusts in this God will ever be put to shame (Psalm 25:3). (Rohr, n.d.)

We ponder the paradox of full life through death and celebrate our recognition of Jesus Presence in the celebrations and mourning of our journey.

References

Acts of the Apostles, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 23, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/3?1 

Luke, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 23, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/24?13 

Meditation on Luke 24:13-35. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved April 23, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/04/23/1260889/  

Naatz, S. (2025, April 23). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved April 23, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/042325.html 

Psalms, PSALM 105 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved April 23, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/105?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Death into Life. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 23, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/death-into-life/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Did Not Our Hearts Burn While He Opened to Us the Scriptures. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 23, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=apr23