Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Fr. Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP - Homily for Wednesday Easter week 6 - May 20, 2020


Wednesda 20th May 2020
Sixth week of Easter
Acts 17:15,22-18:1, John 16:12-15
Have you ever engaged in an argument with Christians who are not Catholics or tried to preach to them about some doctrines  and other common Christian values? The most common question they ask is, "where is it in the bible"? Some Catholics who are not strong in the faith or do not know their faith very well have also been deceived with quotes from the bible that have been misconstrued. This was also the downfall of Martin Luther who hinged on the word,  Solar Scriptura, which means solely from the scripture. He forgot that we are told in John 21:25 that "there was much else that Jesus did; if it were written down in detail, the world itself would not hold all the books that would be written". We still have some Christians today who still believe that saying anything outside the bible is not acceptable. They fail to understand that many modern and contemporary issues which befall us may not be addressed at the time of Jesus and thus we need the influence of the Holy Spirit to guide us. This is why we have the Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Church's Magisterium to guide us. For example, it is not in the bible how the Church should worship during Covid-19 pandemic. The Holy Spirit continues to inspire the leaders of the Church to take the best approach  and decisions while we continue to pray for an end to the pandemic.
It is this same Holy Spirit that Jesus talks about in the gospel reading of today. Jesus tells us that there are many things he would have loved to say before going back to the father in heaven, but they will be too much for us. We would have forgotten many of them and would have obviously not understood them too. He therefore promised us that the Holy Spirit who will come from the father will continue to lead and inspire us to the end and reveal to us the mysteries of the kingdom. It is very unfortunate that many people today claim that Holy Spirit and create confusion among the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit can work in whoever he chooses, but he is not a Spirit of confusion. When he works through the Magisterium which is the teaching Office of the Church, we cannot be in error. As Jesus ascends to his father tomorrow, let us continue to trust in the Spirit of God working in the Church to continuously lead us to the mysteries Christ has taught us.
We see how the Spirit  is working in Paul in the first reading of today. He is working to unite the Greeks, people of other cultures and religion to the true fold. The Spirit of God is a spirit of unity, not of division. Even in preaching to them, Paul did not condemn them but tried to make them see that God loves them even in their ignorance. Such approach yields fruit in due time. God help us. Amen.
Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie MSP

No comments:

Post a Comment