Word to the Wise
Monday, May 17, 2021 - 7th Week of Easter - Mon
[Acts 19:1-8 and John 16:29-33]"Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God." Jesus answered them, "Do you believe now? Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of ou will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone." [John]
The "Farewell Discourse" continues in its mixture of fragmented themes with a confession of faith on the part of the disciples. But Jesus challenges that faith because it is still incomplete. The disciples would turn tail and run from the Garden of Gethsemane. They, at that point, could not see the big picture of Jesus' return to the Father and the coming of the Spirit. Jesus' resurrection would be their "wake-up call" that the big picture was upon them!
In the first scripture for today from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul finds another example of "incomplete faith" in disciples who had "never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit!" They believed in Jesus but did not have the big picture in mind.
Our own understanding of the meaning of Jesus' life, death, resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit form that big picture that itself fits into the larger scriptural narrative of God's saving plan. It can be a challenge to "open our minds to the scriptures" and broaden our understanding of this and to live it out every day, but that's what the Holy Spirit is trying to help us to do. AMEN