Living Temples of the Holy Spirit
Readings: Acts 8,5-8.14-17; 1 Pt 3,15-18; John 14,15-21
In the Old Testament we sometimes find examples of close relationships between two characters, one of whom dies or disappears from the scene and the other takes his place, receiving his spirit: Moses and Joshua (Dt 34:9), Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2:9.15)... At his death on the cross, Jesus pours out his Spirit on believers (Jn 19:30: “He gave up the Spirit”; cf. 7:38-39); the Spirit is the great gift of the Risen One (Jn 20:22). For John, the one he calls “another Paraclete” (Gospel: Jn 14:16) is another Jesus. The term “parakletos” as a passive of “parakalein” is the “called neighbor”, the defense attorney, or rather, in John, the witness in favor in a trial; in active form “parakalein” is “he who comes close”, the protector, the friend, the consoler; related to “paraklesis", is the one who exhorts, who encourages. Jerome, translating the Gospel into Latin, therefore prefers, in order to maintain all the meanings, the simple transliteration from the Greek, "paraclete”. The Spirit proceeds from the Father, who sends him in the name of Jesus (Jn 14:16,26): but Jesus also sends him autonomously (Jn 15:26; 16:7): the Catholic Ecumenical Councils will conclude that “he proceeds from the Father and the Son”. But since the Paraclete can only come when Jesus goes away (Jn 16:7), the Paraclete is the presence of Jesus when Jesus is absent.
The Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of Christians. In today's Gospel, in a wonderful crescendo, it is not only affirmed that he is with ("half”) believers, but which is near (“para”) of them, or rather in (“en”) them (Jn 14:16-17): they have thus become “Pneumatophors”, “Bearers of the Holy Spirit” (Rom 8:9-11; 1 Cor 3:16-17…), “dwelling place of God through the Spirit” (Eph 2:20.22). What a stupendous mystery is offered to our contemplation: we are living temples of the Holy Spirit! Each of us is a living tabernacle of his presence! When we meet, we should kneel before one another!
The implications of this reality are impressive. First of all, God is never far from each of us: we only need to reflect for a moment to find God's Spirit of Love, who speaks to us, guides us, enlightens us, and gives us strength even "to give an account of the hope that is in us," even to the point of "suffering for doing good rather than doing evil" (Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:15-18). Furthermore, each person is always of immense value, because indwelt by the Spirit: here is the foundation of the theology of sexuality: "Flee from sexual immorality...! Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?" (1 Cor 6:18-20). But from the indwelling of the Spirit of God in every human being also flows our respect for the body of the sick, the suffering, and every human life from its beginning to its end: it is the source of our fight against abortion and euthanasia, against the death penalty, and against every injustice, violence, poverty, and oppression that humiliates humanity. This is the dynamic of the first reading, in which Philip goes among the excommunicated Samaritans to cast out demons, to heal the sick, and to bring great joy to all: and Peter and John seal his work with the laying on of hands for the descent of the Spirit (Acts 8:5-8, 14-17). God does not wish to be served and honored so much in churches of stone as in the living temples that are our brothers and sisters (Is 1:10-17). This is why the Holy Spirit is called by the Church "Father of the poor": because it is above all in our suffering brothers and sisters that we find him, that we must love him and serve him. A Church that loses its sense of the priority of the poor is a Church that loses the privileged Presence of the Spirit of God, and therefore fails in its vocation to be itself a “living temple of the Spirit” (Pref. VIII per annum): a Church without the poor is a Church without God.
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SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
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Living Temples of the Holy Spirit
Readings: Acts 8,5-8.14-17; 1 Pt 3,15-18; John 14,15-21
In the Old Testament we sometimes find examples of close relationships between two characters, one of whom dies or disappears from the scene and the other takes his place, receiving his spirit: Moses and Joshua (Dt 34:9), Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2:9.15)... At his death on the cross, Jesus pours out his Spirit on believers (Jn 19:30: “He gave up the Spirit”; cf. 7:38-39); the Spirit is the great gift of the Risen One (Jn 20:22). For John, the one he calls “another Paraclete” (Gospel: Jn 14:16) is another Jesus. The term “parakletos” as a passive of “parakalein” is the “called neighbor”, the defense attorney, or rather, in John, the witness in favor in a trial; in active form “parakalein” is “he who comes close”, the protector, the friend, the consoler; related to “paraklesis", is the one who exhorts, who encourages. Jerome, translating the Gospel into Latin, therefore prefers, in order to maintain all the meanings, the simple transliteration from the Greek, "paraclete”. The Spirit proceeds from the Father, who sends him in the name of Jesus (Jn 14:16,26): but Jesus also sends him autonomously (Jn 15:26; 16:7): the Catholic Ecumenical Councils will conclude that “he proceeds from the Father and the Son”. But since the Paraclete can only come when Jesus goes away (Jn 16:7), the Paraclete is the presence of Jesus when Jesus is absent.
The Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of Christians. In today's Gospel, in a wonderful crescendo, it is not only affirmed that he is with ("half”) believers, but which is near (“para”) of them, or rather in (“en”) them (Jn 14:16-17): they have thus become “Pneumatophors”, “Bearers of the Holy Spirit” (Rom 8:9-11; 1 Cor 3:16-17…), “dwelling place of God through the Spirit” (Eph 2:20.22). What a stupendous mystery is offered to our contemplation: we are living temples of the Holy Spirit! Each of us is a living tabernacle of his presence! When we meet, we should kneel before one another!
The implications of this reality are impressive. First of all, God is never far from each of us: we only need to reflect for a moment to find God's Spirit of Love, who speaks to us, guides us, enlightens us, and gives us strength even "to give an account of the hope that is in us," even to the point of "suffering for doing good rather than doing evil" (Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:15-18). Furthermore, each person is always of immense value, because indwelt by the Spirit: here is the foundation of the theology of sexuality: "Flee from sexual immorality...! Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?" (1 Cor 6:18-20). But from the indwelling of the Spirit of God in every human being also flows our respect for the body of the sick, the suffering, and every human life from its beginning to its end: it is the source of our fight against abortion and euthanasia, against the death penalty, and against every injustice, violence, poverty, and oppression that humiliates humanity. This is the dynamic of the first reading, in which Philip goes among the excommunicated Samaritans to cast out demons, to heal the sick, and to bring great joy to all: and Peter and John seal his work with the laying on of hands for the descent of the Spirit (Acts 8:5-8, 14-17). God does not wish to be served and honored so much in churches of stone as in the living temples that are our brothers and sisters (Is 1:10-17). This is why the Holy Spirit is called by the Church "Father of the poor": because it is above all in our suffering brothers and sisters that we find him, that we must love him and serve him. A Church that loses its sense of the priority of the poor is a Church that loses the privileged Presence of the Spirit of God, and therefore fails in its vocation to be itself a “living temple of the Spirit” (Pref. VIII per annum): a Church without the poor is a Church without God.
Pig iron
Living Temples of the Holy Spirit
Readings: Acts 8,5-8.14-17; 1 Pt 3,15-18; John 14,15-21
In the Old Testament we sometimes find examples of close relationships between two characters, one of whom dies or disappears from the scene and the other takes his place, receiving his spirit: Moses and Joshua (Dt 34:9), Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2:9.15)... At his death on the cross, Jesus pours out his Spirit on believers (Jn 19:30: “He gave up the Spirit”; cf. 7:38-39); the Spirit is the great gift of the Risen One (Jn 20:22). For John, the one he calls “another Paraclete” (Gospel: Jn 14:16) is another Jesus. The term “parakletos” as a passive of “parakalein” is the “called neighbor”, the defense attorney, or rather, in John, the witness in favor in a trial; in active form “parakalein” is “he who comes close”, the protector, the friend, the consoler; related to “paraklesis", is the one who exhorts, who encourages. Jerome, translating the Gospel into Latin, therefore prefers, in order to maintain all the meanings, the simple transliteration from the Greek, "paraclete”. The Spirit proceeds from the Father, who sends him in the name of Jesus (Jn 14:16,26): but Jesus also sends him autonomously (Jn 15:26; 16:7): the Catholic Ecumenical Councils will conclude that “he proceeds from the Father and the Son”. But since the Paraclete can only come when Jesus goes away (Jn 16:7), the Paraclete is the presence of Jesus when Jesus is absent.
The Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of Christians. In today's Gospel, in a wonderful crescendo, it is not only affirmed that he is with ("half”) believers, but which is near (“para”) of them, or rather in (“en”) them (Jn 14:16-17): they have thus become “Pneumatophors”, “Bearers of the Holy Spirit” (Rom 8:9-11; 1 Cor 3:16-17…), “dwelling place of God through the Spirit” (Eph 2:20.22). What a stupendous mystery is offered to our contemplation: we are living temples of the Holy Spirit! Each of us is a living tabernacle of his presence! When we meet, we should kneel before one another!
The implications of this reality are impressive. First of all, God is never far from each of us: we only need to reflect for a moment to find God's Spirit of Love, who speaks to us, guides us, enlightens us, and gives us strength even "to give an account of the hope that is in us," even to the point of "suffering for doing good rather than doing evil" (Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:15-18). Furthermore, each person is always of immense value, because indwelt by the Spirit: here is the foundation of the theology of sexuality: "Flee from sexual immorality...! Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?" (1 Cor 6:18-20). But from the indwelling of the Spirit of God in every human being also flows our respect for the body of the sick, the suffering, and every human life from its beginning to its end: it is the source of our fight against abortion and euthanasia, against the death penalty, and against every injustice, violence, poverty, and oppression that humiliates humanity. This is the dynamic of the first reading, in which Philip goes among the excommunicated Samaritans to cast out demons, to heal the sick, and to bring great joy to all: and Peter and John seal his work with the laying on of hands for the descent of the Spirit (Acts 8:5-8, 14-17). God does not wish to be served and honored so much in churches of stone as in the living temples that are our brothers and sisters (Is 1:10-17). This is why the Holy Spirit is called by the Church "Father of the poor": because it is above all in our suffering brothers and sisters that we find him, that we must love him and serve him. A Church that loses its sense of the priority of the poor is a Church that loses the privileged Presence of the Spirit of God, and therefore fails in its vocation to be itself a “living temple of the Spirit” (Pref. VIII per annum): a Church without the poor is a Church without God.
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