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
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