Pentecost Sunday Year C - 5/6/2022 - Gospel: Jn 20:19-23
Connectedness
Everyone knows that there are things over which we have total control, things we have less control, and things we have no control at all. We can control most of our intake, such as clothing- what to keep and discard and food- what to eat and when to drink. We have some control of our feelings and ideas, but have no control of our dream. We can't control the cost of living but we have some control a family budget. We have no control of sickness or aging; intelligence or life - span, but we can take care of ourselves to avoid danger, working hard to improve our skills and choosing a healthy diet. We have no control of a cruise ship or aeroplane. We have no control over the result of our football team. Apart from prevention measures and shelter, we have no control of natural disasters.
At a spiritual level, one can choose to believe in Jesus or reject Him. Whatever choices one makes, there are consequences of those decisions. Jesus made clear to His disciples that, His teaching was not of His own, but it came from the Father (Jn 7,16). Jesus reinstated this idea elsewhere in John 12,50 when He said,
'What I have spoken does not come from myself... what the Father has told me is what I speak' Jn 12,50.
This implies listening to Jesus means listening to the Father; loving Jesus means loving the Father; welcoming Jesus means welcoming the Father; and rejecting Jesus' invitation to follow means rejecting the Father's. This personal choice is of utmost importance, because the choice will affect the entire life of that person in this world, and also the eternal life to come.
Guidance by the Holy Spirit means to listen to the voice of the Spirit, and that leads to eternal life. Refusal to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit means to deny the role of God's Spirit in a person own life. Placing spirituality into something else rather than God means choosing to disconnect one's inner life from the holy. This disconnectedness means that person's life is detached from the spiritual world and attached to the material world.
Jesus told His disciples that His leaving them would be good for them, because the Spirit would not come while Jesus was still on earth. It would be redundant to have both of them on earth at the same time; since Jesus and the Spirit work on the same source:
'All he tells you will be taken from what is mine' Jn 16,15.
Jesus receives everything from the Father. The Spirit receives everything from Jesus; The Spirit teaches Jesus' disciples everything from Jesus. In this way, the Father is the centre of all revelation. All three persons of God, each in his own ways, are revealed from only one- the same source of God's love which derives from the Father.
The earthly Jesus was conditioned by time and space; the Spirit is free from them. The same Spirit, at one time, can be present at multiple locations. After the Ascension, the world will no longer see Jesus, but Jesus' disciples are visible all over the world. They are new faces of Jesus; their good work and acts of charity are the visible signs, pointing to the world that Jesus is present in His disciples.
Can we, as humans, give glory to the Holy? We, human, mortal and transient, have nothing worthwhile, and lasting to glorify the Most Holy. God doesn't need us to glorify Him because Jesus and the Spirit have already done it. We can give glory to God by means of sharing to others whatever God has given us in the first place. Apart from our love and faith in God, we have nothing else to offer. We give glory to God by means of believing, worshipping, praising and giving thanks to God. We are able to do this when our lives are connected to the Spirit of God.
At a spiritual level, one can choose to believe in Jesus or reject Him. Whatever choices one makes, there are consequences of those decisions. Jesus made clear to His disciples that, His teaching was not of His own, but it came from the Father (Jn 7,16). Jesus reinstated this idea elsewhere in John 12,50 when He said,
'What I have spoken does not come from myself... what the Father has told me is what I speak' Jn 12,50.
This implies listening to Jesus means listening to the Father; loving Jesus means loving the Father; welcoming Jesus means welcoming the Father; and rejecting Jesus' invitation to follow means rejecting the Father's. This personal choice is of utmost importance, because the choice will affect the entire life of that person in this world, and also the eternal life to come.
Guidance by the Holy Spirit means to listen to the voice of the Spirit, and that leads to eternal life. Refusal to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit means to deny the role of God's Spirit in a person own life. Placing spirituality into something else rather than God means choosing to disconnect one's inner life from the holy. This disconnectedness means that person's life is detached from the spiritual world and attached to the material world.
Jesus told His disciples that His leaving them would be good for them, because the Spirit would not come while Jesus was still on earth. It would be redundant to have both of them on earth at the same time; since Jesus and the Spirit work on the same source:
'All he tells you will be taken from what is mine' Jn 16,15.
Jesus receives everything from the Father. The Spirit receives everything from Jesus; The Spirit teaches Jesus' disciples everything from Jesus. In this way, the Father is the centre of all revelation. All three persons of God, each in his own ways, are revealed from only one- the same source of God's love which derives from the Father.
The earthly Jesus was conditioned by time and space; the Spirit is free from them. The same Spirit, at one time, can be present at multiple locations. After the Ascension, the world will no longer see Jesus, but Jesus' disciples are visible all over the world. They are new faces of Jesus; their good work and acts of charity are the visible signs, pointing to the world that Jesus is present in His disciples.
Can we, as humans, give glory to the Holy? We, human, mortal and transient, have nothing worthwhile, and lasting to glorify the Most Holy. God doesn't need us to glorify Him because Jesus and the Spirit have already done it. We can give glory to God by means of sharing to others whatever God has given us in the first place. Apart from our love and faith in God, we have nothing else to offer. We give glory to God by means of believing, worshipping, praising and giving thanks to God. We are able to do this when our lives are connected to the Spirit of God.
Written by Fr Vũđình Tường
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
