20201008 FAITH THROUGH A LIVING ENCOUNTER WITH THE SPIRIT
08 October, 2020, Thursday, 27th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading | Galatians 3:1-5 © |
You received the Spirit because you believed what was preached
Are you people in Galatia mad? Has someone put a spell on you, in spite of the plain explanation you have had of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ? Let me ask you one question: was it because you practised the Law that you received the Spirit, or because you believed what was preached to you? Are you foolish enough to end in outward observances what you began in the Spirit? Have all the favours you received been wasted? And if this were so, they would most certainly have been wasted. Does God give you the Spirit so freely and work miracles among you because you practise Law, or because you believed what was preached to you?
Responsorial Psalm | Luke 1:69-75 © |
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up for us a mighty saviour
in the house of David his servant,
as he promised by the lips of holy men,
those who were his prophets from of old.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
A saviour who would free us from our foes,
from the hands of all who hate us.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
and his holy covenant remembered.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He swore to Abraham our father
to grant us that free from fear,
and saved from the hands of our foes,
we might serve him in holiness and justice
all the days of our life in his presence.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:6 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 11:5-13 © |
Ask, and it will be given to you
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him”; and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you.” I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants.
‘So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
FAITH THROUGH A LIVING ENCOUNTER WITH THE SPIRIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Galatians 3:1-5; Luke 1:69-75; Luke 11:5-13 ]
In his letter to the Galatians, St Paul was deeply scandalized and shocked that they were bought over by a different version of the gospel he had preached, namely, justification by faith in Christ. In strong and clear terms, he rebuked them saying, “Are you people in Galatia mad? Has someone put a spell on you, in spite of the plain explanation you have had of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ?” Indeed, one cannot grow in perfection simply by obedience to the Laws, as some Jewish Christians or Judaizers were teaching them. If justification could be achieved by the Laws, there is no need for faith in Christ at all. Salvation is purely by faith alone in Christ. He wrote, “And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.” (Gal 2:16) Of course this faith, if it is truly faith, will show itself concretely through love. (cf Gal 5:6) Hence, one does not have to be a Jew, following their customs and laws in order to find salvation. What proofs did St Paul adduce to establish this claim and convince the Galatians? By their experience of the power of the Holy Spirit at work in their lives.
St Paul began by bringing them back to the beginning of their initial experience of the Holy Spirit. He said, “Let me ask you one question: was it because you practised the Law that you received the Spirit, or because you believed what was preached to you?” The clear evidence of the Spirit in their lives is the existential proof. Their baptism and the assurance of the Father’s love and their experience of sonship as given by the Holy Spirit was a sure evidence that the law was not needed to be a son or a daughter of God. The Galatian Gentile Christians were not members of the Old Covenant. They did not observe the Law but yet they experienced the blessings of God in abundance in the Holy Spirit.
Truly, they knew that it was the Holy Spirit that enabled the apostles to preach with dynamism and power, bringing about many conversions. They too experienced the gifts of the Spirit that were described in the community at Corinth. “To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.” (1 Cor 12:8-11)
Consequently, Paul asked them, “Does God give you the Spirit so freely and work miracles among you because you practise Law, or because you believed what was preached to you?” The answer is clear. It was not because they kept the Law but because of their faith in Christ. Like Cornelius the Gentile who received the Holy Spirit even before he was baptized. “While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God.” (Acts 10:44-46) Clearly, it was their faith in Christ that gave them the Spirit, not because they observed the Law. St Paul made his position clear earlier on when he wrote, “the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” (Gal 2:20f) So clearly, St Paul was putting before them an either-or. There is no neutrality. Either we are saved by Christ or by the Law. The basis for their reception of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, and their experience of sonship enabling them to know God was their Abba Father was their faith in Christ.
In the gospel, the experience of the Spirit is also connected with the theme of persistence in prayer. In the gospel, Jesus said, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Jesus made it clear that more than anything we should ask from His Father is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Having the gift of the Holy Spirit is to have the gift of intimacy with the Lord. There is nothing greater than to be in union with the Lord and to bask in His love. This is what the Lord is inviting us to. It is intimacy with Him that gives us strength, courage and confidence in life. This is what the Lord said. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5) St Paul wrote, “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5)
Most of all, when we pray in the Spirit, we pray with confidence, unlike those who do not know God. Jesus gave us the example of someone whose friend just arrived at the middle of the night asking for three loaves of bread. Even if the man were in bed, he would get up because of his friend’s persistence in asking. So too, we must believe that God desires to give us the Holy Spirit if we ask of Him. God wants to give us what is best. So we must ask for the Holy Spirit. We need to pray for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit in our lives so that once again we will know that God is real. Only with a fresh outpouring of the Spirit, will our prayer life be more than asking for petitions to be answered but truly a renewal of our friendship with God. When God is our friend as in the gospel, then we can be certain He will always come to our help when we are in need.
Nothing in life can give us real happiness but the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is because when we have the Holy Spirit, we also possess all the gifts that the Spirit brings. The Holy Spirit is the bringer of gifts. He bestows on us the gifts of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, prudence, filial piety, fortitude and fear of the Lord. (Isa 11:2f) With the gifts, the fruits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” are given to us. (Gal 5:22) Truly with the Holy Spirit, we have all that we need in life to be happy and at peace with ourselves.
This is not to say that we cannot ask for temporal and spiritual favours as well. However, we must be discerning in what we pray for. The problem is that many of us are asking for the wrong things in life. In the gospel, the Lord reminded us, “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt 6:33) So we must be discerning in what we ask from Him. Hence, He urges us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg?” Only when we trust Him and have confidence in Him can we accept what He wants to give us as good. When we choose ourselves, most of the time, because of our ignorance, we choose what is detrimental for us. This is why it is important to have the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to help us to discern what is truly good for us.
Just as with the Galatians, St Paul steers us away from falling into legalism or routine in our faith by reducing religion to one of observance of the laws. We are saved by the forgiveness of Christ brought about by His death and resurrection and the giving of His Holy Spirit to us so that we can live a life of the Spirit. If we lack contact with the Holy Spirit, the love of God in our hearts, this is when God becomes far away from us, and we begin to seek satisfaction in material things. But when the Spirit is with us, when we see His presence in our lives, especially in love and service, in miracles and healing, in preaching and in worship, then we will walk in the Spirit and allow ourselves to be moved by the Spirit.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved. T
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