and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you always. JN 14:16
ACTS 17:15, 22 ---- 18:1
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
A few days ago we heard St. Peter say, "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence." Today St. Paul demonstrates how we ought to evangelize. We meet people where they are, know where they are coming from, and take our lead from there. Evangelization is simple, we make it complicated when our own fears and complexes get in the way. It is telling our own personal story with simplicity and trusting the Holy Spirit to do the rest.
My own personal experience of You, my testimony of how You have worked in my life through the good times and the difficult, through joy and grief, through heartbreak and sorrow. This is the Good News that You who know what suffering is, understand me better than anyone, and You who are God, walk with me, and remain with me and in me always.
PSALM 148:1-2, 11-14
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The psalmist says that praise is fitting for loyal hearts. This is why all who know You love You and praise You. You are praised by the angels and saints in the highest heavens. You are praised constantly by all creation and all creatures. Prophets, priests, and kings sing Your praises from the rising of the sun to its setting for You are the Prophet, the Priest, and the King.
Thank You, Beloved, for making constant intercession on our behalf before Your Father. Thank You for adopting us as Your sisters and brothers and for granting us a share of all that is Yours. Thank You for loving us always even though we are unworthy of Your love.
JOHN 16:12-15
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
You came to sow the Kingdom of God in the hearts of all Your disciples, all who are called by Your Name, and all who accept You as their Lord and Savior. This tiny little mustard seed that You sowed in the Church You founded on St. Peter and the Apostles has grown into a mighty oak because she received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost who abides in her.
Holy Mother Church, in imitation of the Holy Virgin, Mother Mary, ponders the Word in her heart as well. It lives there in its fullness and with the help of the Holy Spirit, beginning with the evangelists, the Church Fathers, and all the great writers and thinkers of the faith through the millennia continue to put deep roots in the Spirit of God and receive inspiration, wisdom, insight, and understanding into the unsearchable, inexhaustible riches of God. The Word is the Living Word, the Eternal Word and You will continue to speak to Your disciples and they Church will continue to grow until every bird will build its nest in her and find shelter and shade in You through her.
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