However important it may be to have a creed that is sound, or an emotion that is warm, the Christian life according to the Gospels is primarily determined by the direction of the will, the fixing of the desire, the habit of obedience, the faculty of decision. If you are determined in your purpose, if you have the will to do the Will, then with half a creed and less than half a pious ecstasy, you are at least in
the line of the purpose of Jesus Christ; and as you will to do His will, may come some day to know the teaching.
... R. G. Peabody
(As the old saying goes, "Love is a decision, not a feeling." Supportive feelings develop in time.)
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Acts 11:19-26; Psalm 87:1b-3, 4-5, 6-7
Jn 10:22-30
The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem.
It was winter.
And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon.
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him,
“How long are you going to keep us in suspense?
If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe.
The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me.
But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”
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Reflection on the Scriptures
It’s Easter! New Life, new beginnings. In the Acts, the disciples are spreading the good news everywhere. They recognized that Jesus was Christ and wanted to share the news. They follow him and know him. They are the first to call themselves Christians because they recognize and follow Christ. It’s a new beginning and a new faith. But not everyone recognized and not everyone believed. There was a lot of persecution
and not everyone wanted to hear about what had happened and who Jesus was.
In the gospel, the story is recounted of the Jews asking straight out if Jesus is the Christ. He says that he has told them that he is and that he has shown them in many ways, but they will not see and they will not believe. Jesus says that they are not his followers because they do not believe, and because they do not believe they are not his followers. His followers recognize him and believe him and believe in
him. Like sheep recognize their shepherd and follow him, his people recognize him and follow him. We see them in the first reading now calling themselves Christian. And likewise, like a shepherd recognizes his sheep, Jesus recognizes his people and gives them life everlasting.
- by Tamora Whitney
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
The proper name of the Holy Spirit
691 "Holy Spirit" is the proper name of the one whom we adore and glorify with the Father and the Son. The Church has received this name from the Lord and professes it in the Baptism of her new children.16
The term "Spirit" translates the Hebrew word ruah, which, in its primary sense, means breath, air, wind. Jesus indeed uses the sensory image of the wind to suggest to Nicodemus the transcendent newness of him who is personally God's breath, the divine Spirit.17 On the other hand, "Spirit" and "Holy" are divine attributes common to the three divine persons. By joining the two terms, Scripture, liturgy,
and theological language designate the inexpressible person of the Holy Spirit, without any possible equivocation with other uses of the terms "spirit" and "holy."
(Footnote references in the Catechism.)
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