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Message of the Day
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Be not lax in celebrating.
Be not lazy in the festive service of God.
Be ablaze with enthusiasm.
Let us be an alive, burning offering before the altar of
God.
-Hildegard of Bingen
(Jesus is risen! Let us each day rejoice and give praise!)
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Readings of the Day
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-Acts 5:17-26; Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5,
6-7, 8-9
Jn 3:16-21
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have
eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but
whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in
God. USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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Look, there! Those men you put in jail are standing over there...teaching the people.” —Acts 5:25
The apostles, when released from prison, didn’t run away in order to save themselves from present and future danger and legal trouble. Rather, they placed their trust in God and obeyed His command to teach in the Temple (Acts 5:20-21). Many heard the Good News as a result of their obedient faith and trust.
Saints Paul and Silas were set free from prison (Acts 16:26), but they also
didn’t run away to try to save themselves from present and future danger. Instead, they placed their trust in God and obeyed His command to minister the Good News of salvation to the jailer and his household (Acts 16:31ff). If Paul and Silas had run away, there would have been a dead jailer, a grieving wife and household, and unattended wounds covering their bodies. But by taking their place and teaching the Good News, there was a converted jailer, a redeemed household (Acts 16:31-34), and a new
church formed in Philippi, which resulted in the New Testament letter to the Philippians. Paul and Silas knew Jesus was their Savior, so they trusted in His saving help and carried out His wishes instead of fleeing to “save themselves” (see Mk 8:35).
Where are you in danger? Is Jesus calling you to stand firm in the midst of the present danger and trust in Him as your Savior? Is He calling you to take your
place and announce the Good News? (Acts 5:20)
Prayer: Jesus, may we live no longer for ourselves, but for You (2 Cor 5:15; Gal 2:20).
Promise: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him may not die but may have eternal life.” —Jn
3:16
Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
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Readings from Jesus Alive in Our Lives, by Philip St. Romain. Ave Maria Press, 1985. Contemplative Ministries, Inc. 2011. Part Three, Gift of the Spirit Chapter 3: The Coming of the
Spirit - Selected quotes
A Modern Perspective
Theologians today maintain that the Spirit is given with Baptism, and that She is active in our lives even if we are not professing Christians. Some
Christian denominations do not have a Sacrament of Confirmation, for example, or any kind of rite or ceremony to signify transmission of the Spirit. Even in the Roman Catholic Church, which makes a distinction between the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, it is taught that Baptism “gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of justification . . . giving them the power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of the Holy
Spirit” (The Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1266). Confirmation, in the Roman Catholic Church, is “like Baptism, which it completes” and which “imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark . . . the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of the Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness” (CCC #1304).
The practice of the early Church and of many Christian denominations today, then, points up a kind of two-stage incorporation into Christ’s mystical body, the first step being Baptism and the second Confirmation, which presupposes Baptism and is often administered years later. Traditions that do not celebrate Confirmation often encourage a kind of “Baptism in the Holy Spirit” to invite full surrender to the Spirit. In fact, even in traditions that do provide Confirmation,
there is often an encouragement to seek this more mindful and conscious surrender to the Spirit, as Confirmation is often received without much knowledge of the Gift or expectancy of its efficacy. Undoubtedly, there are still outpourings upon groups and individuals falling outside this process, not to mention the action of the Spirit in other world religions.
Bottom line for readers: if you
have been baptized as a Christian, you may be reassured that you have received the Holy Spirit. “Stirring up the Spirit” is more what is needed, and we will be discussing this in chapters to come.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
1. What questions or comments do you have from this chapter?
2. What times in your life have you felt the Spirit stirring within?
3. Do you remember your Confirmation or Baptism? How did you experience the Spirit during that time?
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