The Abiding Presence of God

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (YEAR C)

SCRIPTURE READING:
Acts 15:1-2.22-29-16.
Ps 67:2-3.5.6.8 (R.4)
Rev. 21:10-14.22-23; Accl; Jn. 14:23
Gospel Jn. 14:23-29.

Preamble:

Dear friends please repeat these words after me;
Stay with me Lord Jesus, as I give you my mind, may your word never depart from me.
Stay with me Lord Jesus, as I give you my ears, help me listen and obey your voice.
Stay with me Lord Jesus, as I give you my heart, help me welcome you always.
Holy Spirit, rekindle in me the fire of your love. Amen.

Seeds of heaven, we are gradually coming to the close of the Easter season which will reach its high point with the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit to renew the face of the church, renew our heart and make our worship pleasing and acceptable to God. In these days that led us to the promise of the father-the person of the Holy Spirit shall take the central focus of our liturgy in order to help us understand his person, his operations and how he leads us to God the father through our Lord Jesus Christ.

To help us understand the operations of the Holy Spirit, the church in her wisdom has provided us with a novena to the Holy Spirit which in the chaplaincy shall begin on Friday the 6th of May, 2016.

During these period our masses shall be in the evening and I really encourage us to please take due advantage of this to renew yourselves, family, and the chaplaincy. Also on Wednesday by his grace we shall have our rosary procession and anointing within mass-it’s a day we have set aside to pray for our children and youths you (parents) and I strongly encourage us parents to please come for that prayer on that day.

Beloved in Christ, our Christian walk cannot survive without the presence and direction and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the abiding presence of the Trinity. Let us note the words used by Jesus in the gospel passage today-“if a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

This expression tells us that both the father and Christ will come to abide in the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit. All three live or dwell within the believer.

Four facts are necessary for our understanding here:

The abiding presence of the Trinity is a conditional one-one based on obedience and love. When you love another; you will keep his or her word and it goes on to tell us that if we love God, we will obey God and that springs also from listening to God of which listening to God means living with God. A persons love is proven and clearly seen in his or her obedience.

The abiding presence of the Trinity is the love and presence of God and Christ and the Holy Spirit-all three dwelling within the life of the believer.
The abiding presence of the Trinity is not “in” the man who does not love and obey Jesus.
The abiding presence of the Trinity is assured by God himself.
The Holy Spirit is Jesus unlimited. He is the personal presence of Christ.

What this means is that

(a.) The presence of Jesus after his resurrection is continued in the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit.

(b.) the world lost its opportunity to see Jesus. He said so that he would be present for only a short time longer, then the world would not see him anymore. The next time the world would see him would be when he is coming for judgment.

(c.) the presence of Jesus is a living and eternal presence. He died, but he did not stay dead. He arose and conquered death. He arose to live forever. Now think: if Jesus Christ is living forever and he dwells within the believer, then the believer lives eternally. Christ the eternal presence lives within the believer; therefore, the believer becomes eternal. He never dies. The believer is made eternal by the eternal presence of Christ within him.

(d.) the presence of Christ is a living union, a mutual indwelling between God, Christ, and the believer.

The Holy Spirit is the very special manifestation of Christ within the believer. This refers to very special manifestations of the Lord to the heart of the believer, those very special times when there is a deep consciousness of love between the Lord and his dear follower.

This manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is seen when believers go through terrible trials and experience severe crises. God knows and he loves and cares for the believer and so he moves to meet the need of his dear children. He moves within the believer’s heart, manifesting His presence and giving a deep sense of his love and care, helping and giving confidence, forgiveness, and assurance-giving whatever the believer needs.

The depth of the experience and the intensity and emotion of the special manifestation of the Holy Spirit depends upon the need of the believer. God knows and loves his dear children perfectly, so he gives whatever experience and depth of emotion are needed to meet the need of His children. We must always remember that God loves each one of us so much he will do whatever is needed to lift us up, to strengthen us, to conform us to the image of his dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The special manifestations of the Lord’s presence are given only to the believer who does two things.

The believer who has Jesus’ commandments receives the special manifestations of the Holy Spirit. To have his commandments means that the believer has searched and possesses the commandments of Jesus Christ. He has them in his heart, knows them, has made them his own. Psalm 119:11.

The believer who obeys the commandments of Jesus. The believer who does these two things shows that he truly loves the lord Jesus, and he that loves the Lord Jesus shall be loved of the father and the lord will love him as well. In fact, the Lord will manifest himself to the believer who hides his commandments in his heart.

This manifestation of the Holy Spirit is not in the physical sense as one may conceive it. It means the special presence of God in a very special way. He illuminates himself within their hearts and lives. He gives a very special consciousness within their souls.

The Holy Spirit is the teacher. He teaches “all things” which Jesus taught. “All things” means all the things which Jesus taught including the presence of the counselor or comforter (Holy Spirit), who is given to help the believer through the trials of life, and the indwelling presence and love of the father and son.

The counselor comes only from the father “in the name of Jesus” and the only way to gain the counsel of the Holy Spirit is by developing a father-child relationship. And to gain the Holy Spirit one must approach the father in the name of Christ for Jesus is the perfect high and faithful high priest.

In the time of confusion and doubt, Luke 12:12 tells us that the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what should say. This function of the Holy Spirit is evident in the first reading which helped the apostles to clear the confusion that was existent in the early church about some men who came from Judea and were teaching the brethren false doctrine about circumcision.

With the aid of the Holy Spirit they corrected this false teaching and then taught them sound doctrine of abstaining from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity.

The Holy Spirit is the Great Reminder for John 14:26 says “but the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

The Holy Spirit is the Perfect Guide for John 16:13 says “but when he, the spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

The Holy Spirit grants us Heavenly Eloquence 1 Cor. 2:13 says “this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”

The Holy Spirit is the Divine Instructor: 1 John 2:27 says “as for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit-just as it has taught you, remain in him.”

Beloved may we make use of this Pentecost novena to renew ourselves. May the Holy Spirit enlighten our hearts and minds to God’s ways, and will for us in the name of Jesus. Amen.