Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ,
you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is,
sitting at God’s right hand. COL 3:1
My Soul's Beloved,
If, like St. Paul, we are to go out and speak boldly and persuasively, then we must first be conversant with the faith. We must know the Gospels. We must be filled with the fire and zeal of the Holy Spirit as he was unconcerned about the difficulties that he would face, the dangers, the bodily harm, the personal discomforts he often had to face and above all the hatred of the Jews who saw them as enemies to the Law and to Moses. We must emulate You in our personal lives, only then can we be authentic evangelisers of the Good News.
The world is hungry for You, Lord, even though they may not know it. The world is full of sad, lonely, troubled people who try and fill their empty lives with the pleasures of the world and the flesh. But these can never satisfy our hunger for You, for beauty, truth, and goodness. Only You can do that through Your Holy Spirit, whom You sent into the world to be our helper and our paraclete.
In this Jubilee Year 2o25, Beloved, with a new Pontiff, grant the Church a fresh outpouring of Your Holy Spirit, a new Pentecost so we may renew the face of the world.
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul made his way overland as far as Ephesus, where he found a number of disciples. When he asked, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?’ they answered, ‘No, we were never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit.’ ‘Then how were you baptised?’ he asked. ‘With John’s baptism’ they replied. ‘John’s baptism’ said Paul ‘was a baptism of repentance; but he insisted that the people should believe in the one who was to come after him – in other words, Jesus.’ When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus, and the moment Paul had laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on them, and they began to speak with tongues and to prophesy. There were about twelve of these men.
He began by going to the synagogue, where he spoke out boldly and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. He did this for three months.
PSALM 67(68):2-7
Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.
Let God arise, let his foes be scattered.
Let those who hate him flee before him.
As smoke is blown away so will they be blown away;
like wax that melts before the fire,
so the wicked shall perish at the presence of God.
But the just shall rejoice at the presence of God,
they shall exult and dance for joy.
O sing to the Lord, make music to his name;
rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence.
they shall exult and dance for joy.
O sing to the Lord, make music to his name;
rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence.
Father of the orphan, defender of the widow,
such is God in his holy place.
God gives the lonely a home to live in;
he leads the prisoners forth into freedom.
such is God in his holy place.
God gives the lonely a home to live in;
he leads the prisoners forth into freedom.
Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.
JOHN 16:29-33
My Soul's Beloved,
Oftentimes, like the disciples, we think we know, although we have not fully grasped the things of the Spirit, the things of the Kingdom of God. These are mysteries that go deep, and we can only understand as much as we are prepared to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us. The more we are aligned with You will and Your Word, the more we are able to believe the things of God and of heaven. To the extent that we allow Your Word to transform our lives, to that extent only will we comprehend heavenly things. As long as we are in the flesh and allow ourselves to belong to the world and serve the culture even in small ways, we will never be able to give ourselves wholly to walking in the Way of Truth and Life.
This is why You warn the disciples that although they say they finally believe, at the first sign of trouble and danger, they scatter to the four winds for fear that they too will be caught and brought to trial with You. Everything they heard, all they saw, everything they said they believed about You, fled from their memory, and they abandoned You.
Lord Jesus, I too am weak, I am ignorant, I make excuses, I spend so much of my valuable time frittering away precious moments in useless pastimes and entertainment, time that could be better spent reading, learning, contemplating, and living the faith which is Your precious gift to me.
Despite our frailty, Beloved, You love us and will remain with us. You assure us that just as Your Father is always with You, You will remain with us too, always.
His disciples said to Jesus, ‘Now you are speaking plainly and not using metaphors! Now we see that you know everything, and do not have to wait for questions to be put into words; because of this we believe that you came from God.’ Jesus answered them:
‘Do you believe at last?
Listen; the time will come – in fact it has come already –
when you will be scattered,
each going his own way and leaving me alone.
And yet I am not alone,
because the Father is with me.
I have told you all this
so that you may find peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but be brave: I have conquered the world.’
Listen; the time will come – in fact it has come already –
when you will be scattered,
each going his own way and leaving me alone.
And yet I am not alone,
because the Father is with me.
I have told you all this
so that you may find peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but be brave: I have conquered the world.’
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