20250527 THE HOLY SPIRIT ASSISTS THE CHURCH IN WITNESSING
27 May 2025, Tuesday, 6th Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 16:22-34 |
Become a believer and you will be saved, and your household too
The crowd joined in and showed their hostility to Paul and Silas, so the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be flogged. They were given many lashes and then thrown into prison, and the gaoler was told to keep a close watch on them. So, following his instructions, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Late that night Paul and Silas were praying and singing God’s praises, while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly there was an earthquake that shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open and the chains fell from all the prisoners. When the gaoler woke and saw the doors wide open he drew his sword and was about to commit suicide, presuming that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted at the top of his voice, ‘Don’t do yourself any harm; we are all here.’ The gaoler called for lights, then rushed in, threw himself trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas, and escorted them out, saying, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They told him, ‘Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and your household too.’ Then they preached the word of the Lord to him and to all his family. Late as it was, he took them to wash their wounds, and was baptised then and there with all his household. Afterwards he took them home and gave them a meal, and the whole family celebrated their conversion to belief in God.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 137(138):1-3,7-8 |
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:
you have heard the words of my mouth.
In the presence of the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple.
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I thank you for your faithfulness and love,
which excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul.
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
You stretch out your hand and save me,
your hand will do all things for me.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your hands.
You stretch out your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen and shone upon us
whom he redeemed with his blood.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Jn16:7,13 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I will send you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord;
he will lead you to the complete truth.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 16:5-11 |
Unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Now I am going to the one who sent me.
Not one of you has asked, “Where are you going?”
Yet you are sad at heart because I have told you this.
Still, I must tell you the truth:
it is for your own good that I am going
because unless I go,
the Advocate will not come to you;
but if I do go,
I will send him to you.
And when he comes,
he will show the world how wrong it was,
about sin,
and about who was in the right,
and about judgement:
about sin: proved by their refusal to believe in me;
about who was in the right: proved by my going to the Father and your seeing me no more;
about judgement: proved by the prince of this world being already condemned.’
THE HOLY SPIRIT ASSISTS THE CHURCH IN WITNESSING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 16:22-34; PS 138:1-3,7-8; JOHN 16:5-11]
In the gospel, Jesus sensed the disciples’ sorrow when He told them He was going away. Indeed, the disciples were totally dependent on our Lord. He was their master. They had been following Him, listening to Him and watching Him – how He related with people, healed the sick, cast out evil spirits and even debated with the religious leaders. Realizing that their master was leaving them, they were lost. Moreover, He had just prepared His disciples for what was ahead of them. “I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.” (Jn 16:1-4) So we can understand their double sadness; first, to lose the presence of their master and secondly, they would be left alone to face the imminent persecutions ahead of them.
However, they would not have been sad if they had asked where Jesus was going. Jesus said to His disciples, “Now I am going to the one who sent me. Not one of you has asked, ‘Where are you going?’ Yet you are sad at heart because I have told you this.” The disciples still did not fully know the identity of Jesus. They did not realize that Jesus came from the Father, the God that they worshipped. Hence, they failed to understand that Jesus was sent by the Father. Indeed, until after the resurrection, the disciples’ understanding of Jesus was simply that He was the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. But because of their monotheistic background, it would be impossible for them to understand the divine identity of Jesus. At most, they could say that Jesus, being the Messiah, was one in mind and heart with the Father. So, Jesus reminded them that He was going back to His Father, the One who sent Him.
Little did they understand that Jesus’ going was for their ultimate good. This is because His leaving them physically would allow Him to be present to them at all times and forever, in their hearts. They failed to understand that they would be the presence of Jesus in the world after His death and resurrection. They would not be witnessing alone by themselves. Rather, they would witness for Jesus in the world with the help of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of the Father and the Son. The Lord told them, “Still, I must tell you the truth: it is for your own good that I am going because unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I do go, I will send him to you.” The return of Jesus to the Father made it possible to send the disciples His Spirit.
So how did the Spirit help the disciples to witness? We are told that the Spirit would help the disciples to do three things. “And when he comes, he will show the world how wrong it was, about sin, and about who was in the right, and about judgement: about sin: proved by their refusal to believe in me; about who was in the right: proved by my going to the Father and your seeing me no more; about judgement: proved by the prince of this world being already condemned.”
The first thing the Holy Spirit does for us is to reveal to us our sins. Indeed, without the Holy Spirit, many of us would not be conscious of our sins. We are numbed to our sins. We are like those in the world, thinking that they know everything and that they need not rely on anyone to tell them what is good and true. In an age of individualism and agnosticism, we have become insensitive to our sins. We justify ourselves for the evils that we do. We rationalize our actions. This explains why the world is so divided. Even the devil can quote the scripture as He did in the Temptation Story to justify selfish actions. Without the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to grieve for our sins.
Nevertheless, the greatest sin is the sin of unbelief. Jesus said, sin is the consequence of “their refusal to believe in me.” St Paul wrote in His letter to the Romans, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.” (Rom 1:18f) When man rejects God, they are blinded and end up worshipping the creatures instead. Then God gives us up to the lusts of their hearts, to impurity, to degrading passions and to a debased mind. (cf Rom 1:24-28) Jesus came as the Light of the World to enlighten all men in the truth. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12) He warned the Jews, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.” (Jn 8:23f)
Secondly, the Holy Spirit comes to vindicate Jesus in His death and resurrection. When Jesus died on the cross, He commended His unfinished mission to the Holy Spirit. It is this same Spirit who would continue the mission of Jesus by dwelling in His disciples. The Spirit of the Father would raise Jesus from the dead when they all thought they were right in condemning Jesus on the cross as a criminal, a blasphemer and a rebel against Judaism and the Romans. But that Jesus was raised from the dead exonerates Him completely because it shows that God was on His side. The Father vindicated Jesus in the Spirit by raising Him from the dead and then gave Him the power to send the Spirit to His disciples so that they too could be filled with His Spirit and proclaim the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. The resurrection and ascension of Jesus proved that all that Jesus said and did was right, that He came from God and was one with God.
Thirdly, the Holy Spirit brings us to conviction of our sins. Some sins are due to ignorance of what is true and good. But some sins are maliciously committed because of greed and self-centeredness. Some of us know that an action is not right and yet we do it. Many of us do not give up our sins because we trivialize what we do. Unless we come to consciousness of how our sins are destroying us and taking away our happiness and peace, we will not truly repent. Without the Holy Spirit we will not grieve for our sins because we also do not know how much we have hurt people and destroyed them, including our loved ones. Most of all, without the Holy Spirit, we can never understand how much our sins hurt God because He loves us so dearly. St Paul wrote, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. “(Eph 4:30) In the Old Testament, God often cried for us over our sins.
This assistance of the Holy Spirit in our mission is clearly illustrated in today’s first reading. Paul and Silas were thrown into prisonbecause Paul delivered a sorcerer from the evil spirit. The sorcerer was a slave-girl who was earning a lot of money for her master through fortune-telling. When Paul exorcised her from the evil spirit, the master was angry as he lost his income earned from her. It is true that in life when the gospel message of truth, justice, and freedom is preached, those who are oppressors and worldly will find the gospel a threat to their status quo. They would attempt to silence us from proclaiming the gospel.
Again, we see how the Holy Spirit helped to liberate Paul and Silas from wrongful imprisonment by allowing a timely earthquake to take place, rocking the prison. “All the doors flew open and the chains fell from all the prisoners.” But Paul and the prisoners did not escape. This awesome event convicted the goaler who recognized Paul as the messenger of God. He asked for instruction in the faith and he and his family were baptized. After baptism, he welcomed Paul and Silas to his household. They all became brothers and sisters to each other. Such is the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul and Silas only relied on God’s grace and the Holy Spirit, for they were praying and singing God’s praises even when they were flogged with many lashes and put in prison. Only the Holy Spirit can give them the spirit of fortitude and hope.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment