Never let us be discouraged with ourselves; it is not when we are conscious of our faults that we are the most wicked: on the contrary, we are less so. We see by a brighter light. And let us remember, for our consolation, that we never perceive our sins till He begin to cure them.
... François Fénelon (1651-1715)
(It is grace to see our sinfulness, for this can lead us to the merciful heart of God.)
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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.”
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Reflection on the Scriptures
As I read today’s gospel, I put myself in the place of the disciples. They had given up their professions, their families, their friends and followed Jesus. He was their Master, their leader, their teacher. It is not surprising then that they could not fathom life without Jesus. But Jesus assures them that his physical self has to return to the Father so that the Holy Spirit can come into the world and continue
the work that he began. So, instead of being grief-stricken he tells them that they should rejoice because his presence with them will be at a different and more intimate level than they have known. Besides, the Spirit would enable the world to see that Jesus’ claim of his relationship to the Father was true, thereby, silencing the critics and exposing as the ultimate sin, their unwillingness to believe.
In many ways, this ultimate sin continues to be present even in our day. There is still an unwillingness to open ourselves to the vision of life that Jesus gives us; a vision of God’s unconditional love for us and of our intricate interconnected-ness with each other and with the physical environment. We fail to treat one another as sisters and brothers as evidenced by racism, human trafficking, etc. And we fail to
relate to the environment with care, instead exploiting and polluting it. As, followers of Jesus, it is our task, inspired and guided by the Spirit, that we make that vision of life that Jesus gives us a reality. And like in the case of Jesus, this might mean laying down our life. But like Paul and Silas in the first reading, we can be assured that the Holy Spirit will give us the strength to do so.
- by Nicky Santos, S.J.
The Son of God Became Human
From The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One, Section Two, Chapter Three
Article 8: I Believe in the Holy Spirit
II. THE NAME, TITLE, AND SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Symbols of the Holy Spirit
694 Water. The symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit's action in Baptism, since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramental sign of new birth: just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so the water of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As "by one Spirit we were all baptized," so we
are also "made to drink of one Spirit."27 Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified28 as its source and welling up in us to eternal life.29
(Footnote references in the Catechism.)
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