True encounter with Christ liberates something in us, a power we did not know we had, a hope, a capacity for life, a resilience, an ability to bounce back when we thought we were completely defeated, a capacity to grow and change, a power of creative transformation.
- Thomas Merton
(Jesus, help me open to your liberating power of resilience and transformation this day.)
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Acts 16:22-34; Psalm 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
Jn 16:5-11
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Now I am going to the one who sent me,
and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.
But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.
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.”
Reflection on the Scriptures
Jesus, with his Ascension but days away, no doubt sensed how fragile his Apostles were and that without his daily presence, they might disperse. So, like the wise teacher, he reassured them that his leaving is to make way for the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who will provide them with strength and courage and in whom they will find inspiration
and guidance.
Fortunately, the same Advocate that Jesus shared with the Apostles, he also shares with us. Are we using this most precious and sacred gift, the Holy Spirit, each and every day to its maximum benefit, or are we simply following the song lyrics and will soon realize that what we thought we had is now gone?
As we take the time to do our Daily Examen of Conscience, we need to ask how the Holy Spirit is enlightening us and guiding us in our lives, and to look for signs that the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us. Remember, the seven wonderful gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. How can we nurture and develop each one of these gifts in our prayer life
and in our daily interactions with others?
Dear Lord, thank you for sending me the Holy Spirit. Please help me to understand more fully that your Advocate is there to guide me and remind me that I need to continually seek the Holy Spirit’s counsel and advice. Help me to grow closer to you and to live a life filled with love for all and filled with service to you. Amen.
- by Steve Scholar
The Existence of God
by Francois Fenelon
SECTION XV. Of Fire
Do you see that fire that seems kindled in the stars, and spreads its light on all sides? Do you see that flame which certain mountains vomit up, and which the earth feeds with sulphur within its entrails? That same fire peaceably lurks in the veins of flints, and expects to break out, till the collision of another body excites it to shock cities and
mountains. Man has found the way to kindle it, and apply it to all his uses, both to bend the hardest metals, and to feed with wood, even in the most frozen climes, a flame that serves him instead of the sun, when the sun removes from him. That subtle flame glides and penetrates into all seeds. It is, as it were, the soul of all living things; it consumes all that is impure, and renews what it has purified. Fire lends its force and activity to weak men. It blows up,
on a sudden, buildings and rocks. But have we a mind to confine it to a more moderate use? It warms man, and makes all sorts of food fit for his eating. The ancients, in admiration of fire, believed it to be a celestial gift, which man had stolen from the gods.
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