“Without
the Spirit we can neither love God nor keep His commandments.” – St Augustine: (354 – 430: was an early Christian
theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western
Christianity and Western philosophy)
Gospel
Text: (JN 14:15-21)
Jesus said to his disciples:
"If you love me, you will keep my
commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world
cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains
with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will
come to you.
In a little while the world will no
longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live
and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am
in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and
observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by
my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself
to him."
The Holy Spirit, like the ligaments
that hold parts of our physical bodies together, binds us together, to make us
one body in Christ. Even when we are separated from our loved ones by great
distances, or even by death itself, the Holy Spirit sustains our relationships.
The Body of Christ cannot be
diminished or destroyed by distance or death.
The Holy Spirit helps us love others
even when it is difficult to do so. Everyone around us is an important part of
our spiritual life, whether we want them to be or not. Everyone plays a part in
our journey on the Way of Christ Jesus. Sometimes that Way is narrow. Sometimes
it demands reconciliation. The Holy Spirit is not interested in “cheap love”.
The Holy Spirit leads us into the sort of love that led Jesus to Calvary: the sort
of love which allowed Christ to embrace the Cross as His Father’s gift.
No comments:
Post a Comment