Sunday 9^th August – 19^th Sunday of the year

GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT

Ephesians 4:30 – 5:2

The Holy Spirit is the mark of God’s ownership over us. It is through the working of the Holy Spirit that we are made children of God. Jesus’ promise not to leave His disciples as orphans is fulfilled by the gift of His Spirit who counsels us and guides our actions so we can fulfil God’s plan for our lives. The Spirit is always with us but sometimes we ignore his presence and choose to follow our personal human desires.

Many times we seek advice from people around us and we fail to remember the greatest counsellor who is always there at crossroads of our lives. We are often in a hurry and our prayers become monologues because we are not patient enough to let God speak to us. Once this begins to happen, the good virtues of the Spirit which is God’s nature in us is forced to give way to bitterness, anger, strife, impatience and other vices which spring from our human nature.

St Paul reminds us in today’s reading not make the Holy Spirit sad. We must continually keep alive the awareness that the Spirit of God dwells in us by our hunger to always commune with him, to share our dreams with him and acknowledge his presence and working in our lives. Beloved in Christ, “let the Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature” (Gal 5:16). There is no middle ground between good and evil desire. You either satisfy one or the other. The human nature is always there to protest against the Spirit of God in us. This calls for a conscious examination of self especially in our journey of faith. Am I walking by the Spirit? Let us establish a relationship with the Holy Spirit who dwells in us by seeking His direction and obeying His promptings. Only then can we truly live the life of faith to which we have been called.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, fill me afresh with your Spirit today and make me more like you. Amen.

KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 120 – What does the Holy Spirit do in my life?

The Holy Spirit makes me receptive to God; he teaches me to pray and helps me to be there for others. Augustine calls the Holy Spirit “The quiet guest of our soul”… Being a “temple of the Holy Spirit”means being there, body and soul, for this Guest, for God in us… The more receptive we are to the Holy Spirit in us, the more he becomes the master of our life, the sooner he will bestow on us even today his CHARISMS for upbuilding of the Church.

HIDE A TREASURE: “And do not make God’s Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God’s mark of ownership on you”. Ephesians 4:30 GNB

Today’s Readings: 1 Kings 19:4-8; Ps. 34:2-7; Eph. 4:30–5:2; John 6:41-51