THE TOUCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Reflection for Tuesday of the 22^nd Week in Ordinary Time, Year A
(1 Cor 2:10-16; Lk 4:31-37)

On this first day of the Month of September, St Paul shifts his discussion with the Corinthians to the workings of the Holy Spirit.  There is need to highlight the operations of the Spirit so that faith in Jesus Christ will not be based on human thinking. “The Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” It is by the Spirit that we can understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. The truth of divine mysteries is made understandable by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in us becomes the ‘revealer’ of truth, and at the same time the ‘principle of Choice’ from which the human mind is motivated to action. This is how the spiritual man knows the will of God and is inspired to do it.

However, human wisdom poses as an ‘obstacle’ to the workings of the Holy Spirit in us. Our human thinking must be transformed by the Holy Spirit as our new frame of thought. The wordily minded person cannot pierce the depths of God; he cannot receive what the Holy Spirit offers. “The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” The obstacle that the human mind poses is removed when the believer begins to develop the ‘mind of Christ’ in his daily life. When we confront issues with the ‘approach of Christ’ then we grow in the ‘mind of Christ.’ Then, the Holy Spirit draws our mind to Himself as the new frame of thinking...

Hence, to ‘put on Christ’ (Rm 13:14) is the gateway to unlock the great workings of the Holy Spirit in us. But the Gospel of today shows how the devil ‘opposes’ our encounter with Jesus. The evil one tried to distract the people from Jesus, and get cheap attention for himself. Jesus immediately rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

Think about the many ways we are distracted from Jesus; the unnecessary oppositions we face anytime we have an opportunity to love Jesus. Imagine how often our active minds become obstacles to us hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. However, a brief touch of the Spirit overwhelms us, brightens our day, melts away every fear and sorrow, and reveals the gifts of God. May you have that touch of the Holy Spirit this month, Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Tuesday September 1^st, 2020.
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com