Peace and grace to you all!
It is good to stand before the mystery of life, and all that is, and ponder it. Creation is always surprisingly new! This weekend we stand before the mystery of the Creator and source of all that is – God, that is why God is called Father: Father = source. As Christians we profess one God, three persons; a mystery that saints and sinners have pondered since the beginning of revelation!
Because God is the first priority in our lives we should ponder the mystery of God so as to understand God a little better, to be in awe, love, listen to, desire to be with, and celebrate in our worship more profoundly.
Not all that we know about God can come from our own personal experiences of God. The largest part of our knowledge of God is based upon Sacred Scripture, which is also Divine Revelation and the Church whose task it is to teach the truth about God, as Jesus did, to all people. In the Gospel this weekend Jesus assures the disciples that the “Spirit of Truth” will guide the Church to all truth throughout all time. The Church has always been active in speaking and teaching through the centuries so that all people would know God, love God, trust God, and follow his way of life – to where? To peace and happiness in this life and to enjoy forever the life with God that is to come! Even in the midst of suffering, there is joy.
In the last few weeks of Easter, Jesus repeatedly promised his disciples that “whatever you ask the Father in my name, I will give you.” Jesus also told his disciples to remain in “the city” until they received power from on high. This event of being empowered with the Holy Spirit is what we celebrated last weekend. One great gift of the Holy Spirit Jesus gave the disciples was to forgive sins and through this gift, we all find our Spiritual renewal.
Another gift of the Spirit is prayer. For many, when asked about their prayer, they say they pray to “Jesus” or they pray to “God” or one of the Saints. This is all good! But for those who have not tried it yet, how about consciously saying a prayer to the Father, asking in the name of Jesus, while knowing you are praying and speaking with the help of the Holy Spirit? Last weekend’s second reading told us that no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit – this is because God the Father and God the Holy Spirit move us to do it!
The mystery of God is about a relationship, a communion of complete love, an out-pouring of love for the sake of the good of the other. Try to enter this relationship with your prayer of the heart! God bless you all! +++ Fr. Peter