As we continue our reading through Acts and how the grace of God was powerfully working in the hearts of the first believers so as to strengthen, spread and secure the early Church so that it would have a good rock-solid foundation built and fecundated through The Word, through Jesus, we see the marvelous illumination and direction of the Holy Spirit so beautifully manifested in leading all these early Christians, our brothers and sisters.
We can’t forget, that though we’re separated by time, we are united in eternity, and they too are our brothers and sisters. What joy will there be in heaven, when the elect will have all the time in paradise to get to know each other and rejoice in the great things the Lord has done!
Paul and Barnabas are done at Antioch and they head to Jerusalem, and we’re now told that they’re bringing young Mark back with them, to whom the very human second Gospel is attributed. He eventually becomes the scribe for Peter’s accounts of the events, to which for the most part he was an eyewitness, and together they hand on to us one of the four precious Gospels in the New Testament. Once these three arrive, they see how everyone is engaging in serious prayer and fasting. While worshipping the Lord, the Holy Spirit spoke, indicating that Paul and Barnabas would be set apart for a special work of his. We read,
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off” Acts 13:2.
There’s so much we could learn from all this. First of all, did you notice that the Holy Spirit is clearly a Person here? “Set apart for me” he says to them. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would lead them into all truth, but notice that when he does it—he actually speaks as a Person. Those to whom he spoke didn’t say, “You know, I feel something in my gut telling me God wants these two over there.” No, he was a Person, and they knew it. Secondly, he engages them when they’re praying and fasting and enraptured in true worship.
How important it is for us to pray, dear brothers and sisters. How important it is for us to fast. How important to never separate the two. The Holy Spirit’s presence and voice becomes clearer the more intensely we give ourselves to these and the other wise counsels of the Lord. It is Jesus who taught us that prayer needed to be incessant and that the greatest difficulties could be approached by fasting. Our Lord’s teachings are themselves part of what it means when Saint John the Baptist said Jesus would baptise us with the Holy Spirit, because through those instructions, he immerses us deeper and deeper into the mystery of the Godhead.
We can ask ourselves where we’re at in terms of our prayer life and perhaps reflect on how to make it even better. Get enough sleep, create a usual time, the right environment, less noise if possible… etc. The good news is, that each day God gives us, is an opportunity to strategize and tackle the important things in our lives anew, knowing that the Lord is with us and that he refuses nothing, as he reminded Saint Faustina, to the soul who places their complete trust in him.
In the Gospel today, as we continue to delight in the Word given to us through Saint John, our Blessed Lord gives us some incredible insights. First, he reminds us that his union with the Father and the Holy Spirit is so profound, that to believe in him is to believe in the Father who sent him through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Whenever One is present, in some way, the others are also.
“Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me,and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me” John 12:44,45.
Is this not what he also said to Philip? “Philip, have I been with you this long, and still you don’t understand? Whoever sees me, sees the Father” John 14:9.
Wow, so beautiful is our Lord’s divinity that in it we catch a glimpse into the Father’s splendour also.
Then Jesus goes on to say how he came into the world to be its light and that whoever follows him will not walk in darkness. Did you ever marvel at the fact that the sun is a miracle that scientists are still trying to understand more completely? What they do know however is that it’s at the perfect distance from us, emitting the perfect amount of heat and energy and this it has been doing for thousands of years. You can also get 1,300,000 planet earths into it! That’s how big it is. Incredible! But as beautiful as that sun is, and as bright as its light may be, it can never show us the path of truth and the way of righteousness and goodness. It has no power to stop us from sinning, and it can never appease God’s wrath, because only Christ, the true light of the world, does this.
Our blessed Mother Mary, in Fatima taught us some beautiful things, but a lot of people miss the sublime nature of the miracle God worked in her honour and how closely, by spotlighting the sun and moving it out of its orbit, it was always meant to highlight the importance of who Jesus is. One example is that she pointed to the sun… why? Because the sun is a symbol of Jesus who is the Light of the world, who descended from heaven into our midst. Hence the sun’s plummeting to the earth wasn’t a terrifying trick to scare people to death, but God was recalling the incarnation for us, that the true Son of God, came to save the world, not destroy it, and then, what did the sun do? It reverted back to its original position and orbit. What did Jesus do after he accomplished all things the Father asked of him? Well, in his own words at the Last Supper, the night before he died and four days before his glorious resurrection, by extension of the apostles he told all of us, “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father” John 16:28.
And Mary points to him, beyond the dark clouds which had parted, as she always does in the storms of our life, and says what? “Look! Look at him and listen. Listen to what he tells you!” The image of our Lady pointing at the sun burning bright is an iconic moment in which she once again reverts our attention to the Son of God among us as the Light of the world. The light of the world not just two thousand years ago, but now, today, in my life and in yours, for he is the Risen Light, which now has the mark of victory in its radiance, and he is with us each step of the way, as we continue to journey on the path he has laid out for us.
If we die with Christ even now, daily, we will also share in his victory, even now, daily. May Jesus Christ be praised and may he continue to bless you always, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Add comment
Comments