Saturday, 28th Week in Ordinary Time
“The Holy Spirit will teach you…”
Jesus, in today’s gospel reading, is telling us that to refuse our inner vision, our spiritual insight, is a blasphemy, a sin, against the Holy Spirit. His strong words remind us that the Holy Spirit has been given to each of us (Christians) to enable us to actuate or activate all the gifts given to us for our mission in this life.
The Holy Spirit enables us to know when to speak and when to remain silent, when to get into action and when get into reflection, when to act and when to refrain from reacting, when to be bold and daring and when to be careful and cautious, when to give generously and when to receive with an open heart. Joseph Krempa has this commentary and reflection: “A denial of that spiritual light within us or a refusal to allow it to penetrate the conscious level of our awareness is a sin against the Holy Spirit.”
The situation is analogous or comparable to a Christian who consciously refuses to receive God’s blessings by deliberately turning away from the source of grace. It could be by turning down the nourishment from the Eucharist, or by declining forgiveness and necessary help one gets from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or by disregarding the benefits of the other Sacraments, or by dismissing the opportunity to pray. It is a self-contradiction: A Catholic Christian without the Sacraments, without the Eucharist, without Confession, without prayer. The Holy Spirit has been given to us as an integral part of ourselves to propel us toward maturity in the Lord. Each of us has received the Holy Spirit to live and to thrive as that Spirit gives us the light.
So, let us allow the light of the Holy Spirit to penetrate our hearts and help us as we strive to do the will of God and as we strive to follow Jesus closely and faithfully by personally sharing in his life and actively participating in his mission, by cooperating in the building up of the kingdom of God – a kingdom of truth, justice, peace, love, and life. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to come in and invade our lives that we may be able to make Christ as the center of our life and that we may be empowered to carry on his mission.
Parokya ni Osong 