Peace and well
Daily reflection
11/05/2021
Gospel of saint John 16, 12 -15
Today I would like to reflect on the action that the Holy Spirit performs in guiding the Church and each one of us to the Truth. Jesus himself says to the disciples: the Holy Spirit «will guide you into the truth» (Jn 16:13).
The question arises: does «the» truth really exist? What is the truth? Can we meet her? Can we find it? Here comes to mind the question of the Roman Attorney Pontius Pilate when Jesus reveals to him the deep meaning of his mission: «What is truth?» (Jn 18, 38). Pilate cannot understand that «the» Truth is before him, he cannot see in Jesus the face of truth, which is the face of God. However, Jesus is precisely this: the Truth, which, in the fullness of time, «became flesh» (Jn 1: 1.14), came among us so that we would know it. The truth does not cling as a thing, the truth is found. It is not a possession, it is an encounter with a Person.
But who makes us recognize that Jesus is «the» Word of truth, the only begotten Son of God the Father? Saint Paul teaches that «no one can say: ‘Jesus is Lord!’ Except by the Holy Spirit» (1 Cor 12: 3). It is precisely the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Risen Christ, who makes us recognize the Truth. Jesus defines him as the «Paraclete», that is, «the one who comes to help», who is at our side to sustain us on this path of knowledge; and, during the Last Supper, Jesus assures the disciples that the Holy Spirit will teach everything, reminding them of his words (cf. Jn 14:26).
What, then, is the action of the Holy Spirit in our life and in the life of the Church to guide us to the truth? Above all, it remembers and imprints on the hearts of believers the words that Jesus spoke, and, precisely through these words, the law of God – as the Old Testament prophets had announced – is inscribed in our hearts and becomes we in principle of valuation in the options and of guide in the daily actions; it becomes the principle of life. Thus the great prophecy of Ezekiel is fulfilled: «I will purify you from all your filthiness and idolatries, and I will give you a new heart, and I will infuse you with a new spirit … I will infuse you with my spirit, and I will make you walk according to my precepts, and that you keep and carry out my mandates ”(36, 25-27). Indeed, it is from within ourselves that our actions are born: it is precisely the heart that must be converted to God, and the Holy Spirit transforms it if we open ourselves to Him.
The Holy Spirit then, as Jesus promises, guides us «to the full truth» (Jn 16:13); It guides us not only to the encounter with Jesus, the fullness of Truth, but it guides us even «within» the Truth, that is, it makes us enter into a deeper and deeper communion with Jesus, giving us the intelligence of the things of God . And this we cannot achieve with our strength. If God does not illuminate us internally, our being Christians will be superficial. The Tradition of the Church affirms that the Spirit of Truth acts in our hearts, arousing the «sense of faith» (sensus fidei) through which, as the Second Vatican Council affirms, the People of God, under the guidance of the Magisterium , unfailingly adheres to the faith transmitted, deepens it with right judgment and applies it more fully in life (cf. Const. dogm. Lumen gentium, 12). Let us ask ourselves: am I open to the action of the Holy Spirit, do I ask him to give me light, make me more sensitive to the things of God? This is a prayer that we must pray every day: «Holy Spirit make my heart open to the Word of God, my heart open to good, my heart open to the beauty of God every day.» I would like to ask everyone a question: how many of you pray every day to the Holy Spirit? They will be few, but we must satisfy this desire of Jesus and pray every day to the Holy Spirit, so that he opens our hearts to Jesus.
Let us think of Mary, who «kept all these things meditating on them in her heart» (Lk 2:19, 51). The acceptance of the words and the truths of faith, so that they become life, is realized and grows under the action of the Holy Spirit. In this sense, it is necessary to learn from Mary, to relive her «yes», her total availability to receive the Son of God in her life, which was transformed from that moment on. Through the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son dwell with us: we live in God and of God. Let us invoke him every day. I make this proposal to you: let’s invoke the Holy Spirit every day, so the Holy Spirit will bring us closer to Jesus Christ.
Fr. Antony Majeesh George Kallely, OFM.
