If you
love Me, you will keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give
you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world
is unable to receive Him because it doesn't see Him or know Him. But you do
know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you. I will not leave you
as orphans; I am coming to you. John 14:15
Pope Francis In His Own Words,
Joy of the Gospel:
Joy of the Gospel:
The
mysterious working of the risen Christ and his Spirit
275. In the
second chapter, we reflected on that lack of deep Spirituality which turns into
pessimism, fatalism, and mistrust. Some people do not commit themselves to
mission because they think that nothing will change and that it is useless to
make the effort. They think: “Why should I deny myself my comforts and
pleasures if I won’t see any significant result?” This attitude makes it
impossible to be a missionary. It is only a malicious excuse for remaining
caught up in comfort, laziness, vague dissatisfaction and empty selfishness. It
is a self-destructive attitude, for “man cannot live without hope: life would
become meaningless and unbearable”. If we think that things are not going to
change, we need to recall that Jesus Christ has triumphed over sin and death
and is now almighty.
Jesus Christ truly lives. Put another way, “ if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain” (1 Cor 15:14). The Gospel tells us that when the first disciples went forth to preach, “the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message” (Mk 16:20). The same thing happens today. We are invited to discover this, to experience it. Christ, risen and glorified, is the wellspring of our hope, and he will not deprive us of the help we need to carry out the mission which he has entrusted to us.
Jesus Christ truly lives. Put another way, “ if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain” (1 Cor 15:14). The Gospel tells us that when the first disciples went forth to preach, “the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message” (Mk 16:20). The same thing happens today. We are invited to discover this, to experience it. Christ, risen and glorified, is the wellspring of our hope, and he will not deprive us of the help we need to carry out the mission which he has entrusted to us.
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REFLECTION
* Remember, when we pray, Christ is not far off in some distant heaven, "I am with you." That is why the first step in our preparation for prayer is to <consciously enter the presence of Jesus>
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276. Christ’s
resurrection is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has
permeated this world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection
suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force. Often it seems that God does
not exist: all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and
cruelty. But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always
springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit. On razed land life breaks
through, stubbornly yet invincibly. However dark things are, goodness always
re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our world beauty is born anew, it rises
transformed through the storms of history. Values always tend to reappear under
new guises, and human beings have arisen time after time from situations that
seemed doomed. Such is the power of the resurrection, and all who evangelize
are instruments of that power.
REFLECTION
* Take a moment to consider your own outlook on things. Many see the Church in decline. What kinds of evidence is purposed for this pessimism?
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277. At the
same time, new difficulties are constantly surfacing: experiences of failure
and the human weaknesses which bring so much pain. We all know from experience
that sometimes a task does not bring the satisfaction we seek, results are few
and changes are slow, and we are tempted to grow weary. Yet lowering our arms
momentarily out of weariness is not the same as lowering them for good,
overcome by chronic discontent and by a listlessness that parches the soul. It
also happens that our hearts can tire of the struggle because in the end we are
caught up in ourselves, in a careerism which thirsts for recognition, applause,
rewards and status. In this case we do not lower our arms, but we no longer grasp
what we seek, the resurrection is not there. In cases like these, the Gospel,
the most beautiful message that this world can offer, is buried under a pile of
excuses.
REFLECTION
* Consider for a moment the quality of your own heart, are you discouraged and loosing hope?
* Name the reasons for your loosing hope.
* Or are you optimistic, why?
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278. Faith
also means believing in God, believing that he truly loves us, that he is
alive, that he is mysteriously capable of intervening, that he does not abandon
us and that he brings good out of evil by his power and his infinite
creativity. It means believing that he marches triumphantly in history with
those who “are called and chosen and faithful” (Rev 17:14). Let us believe the
Gospel when it tells us that the kingdom of God is already present in this
world and is growing, here and there, and in different ways: like the small
seed which grows into a great tree (cf. Mt 13:31-32), like the measure of
leaven that makes the dough rise (cf. Mt 13:33) and like the good seed that
grows amid the weeds (cf. Mt 13, 24-30) and can always pleasantly surprise us.
The kingdom is here, it returns, it struggles to flourish anew. Christ’s
resurrection everywhere calls forth seeds of that new world; even if they are
cut back, they grow again, for the resurrection is already secretly woven into
the fabric of this history, for Jesus did not rise in vain. May we never remain
on the sidelines of this march of living hope!
In the Canyons of the City |
- No single act of love for God will be lost,
- no generous effort is meaningless,
- no painful endurance is wasted.
All of these encircle our world like a vital force. Sometimes it seems that our work is fruitless, but mission is not like a business transaction or investment, or even a humanitarian activity. It is not a show where we count how many people come as a result of our publicity; it is something much deeper, which escapes all measurement. It may be that the Lord uses our sacrifices to shower blessings in another part of the world which we will never visit. The Holy Spirit works as he wills, when he wills and where he wills; we entrust ourselves without pretending to see striking results. We know only that our commitment is necessary. Let us learn to rest in the tenderness of the arms of the Father amid our creative and generous commitment. Let us keep marching forward; let us give him everything, allowing him to make our efforts bear fruit in his good time.
REFLECTION
* How to measure success - there is the world's standards, wealth, power, prestige etc. Then there is the Cross of Christ.
* Why is the Cross our first measure of success?
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280. Keeping
our missionary fervour alive calls for firm trust in the Holy Spirit, for it is
he who “helps us in our weakness” (Rom 8:26). But this generous trust has to be
nourished, and so we need to invoke the Spirit constantly. He can heal whatever
causes us to flag in the missionary endeavour. It is true that this trust in
the unseen can cause us to feel disoriented: it is like being plunged into the
deep and not knowing what we will find. I myself have frequently experienced
this. Yet there is no greater freedom than that of allowing oneself to be
guided by the Holy Spirit, renouncing the attempt to plan and control
everything to the last detail, and instead letting him enlighten, guide and
direct us, leading us wherever he wills. The Holy Spirit knows well what is
needed in every time and place. This is what it means to be mysteriously
fruitful!
PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
Jesus my Lord, I confess to you and to all the world / my need for your presence in my life. / I am alone and in darkness without you. / I am influenced and controlled by the many forces that surround me. / Even though I struggle against them,/ it is sin that so easily dominates my life. / Who can save me but you alone, / my Lord and my God. / Deliver me from the Evil One. / Touch my life with that power which flows from your Resurrection. / Cause your Holy Spirit to be born in me anew. / Prince of Peace and Lord of Glory / reign now in my heart. / Baptize me with your Holy Spirit and Fire. / Raise me up to a New Life in you.
PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
Jesus my Lord, I confess to you and to all the world / my need for your presence in my life. / I am alone and in darkness without you. / I am influenced and controlled by the many forces that surround me. / Even though I struggle against them,/ it is sin that so easily dominates my life. / Who can save me but you alone, / my Lord and my God. / Deliver me from the Evil One. / Touch my life with that power which flows from your Resurrection. / Cause your Holy Spirit to be born in me anew. / Prince of Peace and Lord of Glory / reign now in my heart. / Baptize me with your Holy Spirit and Fire. / Raise me up to a New Life in you.
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