We are Family
Listening the Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you will renew the face of the earth.
Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful. In the same Spirit help us to relish what is right and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Listening the Word: John 20:19-23
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, "Peace be with you."
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained."
Reflection
What can transform a person? What can be the cure for a self-centered life? What can open our hearts as wide as the world? What can unite us in spite of our differences? It is the Holy Spirit, the gift of Jesus at Pentecost.
The passion and death of Christ seem to be the end of the movement of Jesus according to the people who were opposing him. But after his resurrection and especially after Jesus offered to his disciples the Holy Spirit, the contrary happened. The disciples of Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus to everyone; the same disciples who left when they took Jesus, who were hidden with doors closed because of fear. So, a devastating experience for the disciples, with thepresence of Jesus again in their life and the strength of the Holy Spirit, transformed the disciples into courageous emissaries of the risen Lord.
The Spirit did not just give them strength and courage, it brought them together as a group, a church, a family. Not linked anymore by blood but by the Spirit of the Lord. Saint Paul uses the image of a body; we became the body of Christ and Christ isthe head. Sin tends to divide us, to bring us against each other, each one in one direction. The Babel tower is an illustration of this effect. The spirit of love and forgiveness overcomes the cracks that our individualities may create. It brings us togetherbecause we recognize Christ present in one another, doing his redeeming work.
Beside this, the Spirit also gives us a mission to accomplish, a goal for our lives. The Holy Spirit takes us out to the world because as Christ’s body and God’s family, we bring salvation to the whole humanity. We bring good news to the desperate, thelowly, the poor, the lonely, the suffering. Our life as christians is the result of many others who shared first with us the life of Christ. The Holy Spirit will make us share this life with others.
We are grateful to God because he shares his life with us, granting us his Spirit that gives us courage in our faith, brings us together as Church and accompanies our mission in the world. May the Lord help us to be full of his Spirit to bring new life to theends of the earth.
Reflection Questions
1.- How is the Holy Spirit transforming my life from fear, selfishness, or division into courage, love, and openness toward others?
2.- In what concrete ways can I help build unity and bring the Good News of Christ to the people who are suffering, lonely, or in need around me?
