Year A
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin
Ephesians 1:11-14
Psalm 33:1-2.4-5.12-14
Luke 12:1-7
DO NOT BE AFRAID
Today, we commemorate the memorial of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque who is famous for spreading the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. What the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has led me to realize that wherever Love flows, there God's throne is.
Just as a candle needs its stand, as we are the light of the world, we need a stand. The one who is afraid is the one who does not have a stand and hence feels that he or she is alone and has no one to help him or her.
God is more than the candle stand to us, God fills us completely. He makes us free, he marks us with his Spirit, the Holy Spirit who is the third Person of the Trinity. As the Holy Spirit is a Person, he cares for us, he cares for you. The Holy Spirit is sensitive to our problems, and challenges, our sorrows, our groaning, he knows them all and mostly inspires us to approach God in prayers in such sorrows and groaning, praying from the heart.
Romand 8:26
"And as well as this, the Spirit too comes to help us in our weakness, for, when we do not know how to pray properly, then the Spirit personally makes our petitions for us in groans that cannot be put into words;"
The Holy Spirit is indeed the pledge of our inheritance. Since we are still reflecting on the Cross through which we are offered the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, let us look at how the pierced side of Jesus Christ show that we have been stamped with the Holy Spirit.
The greatest Mystery that we must accept regarding the Cross is that, Both natures of Christ Jesus (His Humanity and His Divinity) was nailed to the Cross. Now, since where one of the Persons of the Trinity is all are, we see that on the Cross, Christ Jesus unites us to God as a Bride.
Now, if just as Adam was put into deep sleep and his bride was taking from his side, Jesus Christ was also put into deep sleep and his bride was taken from his side through Baptism and the Eucharist as the water and blood that flowed from his respectively proves, how this is made possible is seen through the works of the Holy Spirit.
Since we already know that where one of the Persons of the Trinity is, all are, perhaps where we get a clearer view of the Holy Spirit as that which flowed from the side of Jesus Christ on the Cross is Revelation 22:1;
"Then the angel showed me the river of life, rising from the throne of God and of the Lamb and flowing crystal-clear."
The Trinity is clear in this part of the book of Revelation, because in Revelation 21: 22, we are told that Lord God Almighty and the Lamb where the temple and now from these two Persons as according Revelation 21:1, the river of life is flowing, just as the water and blood flowed from the side of Christ Jesus.
Thus if God the Father and God the Holy Spirit where with God the Son (Christ Jesus) on the Cross, and the water and blood which makes us part of the body of Christ can be equated to the River of life, and the River of life is clearly see in Revelation as the Holy Spirit, then its through the Holy Spirit that we are made part of the body of Christ, and obviously the Cross is also the throne of God.
This will explain why always in the Book of Revelation we here for instance;
Revelation 22:17
"The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come!' Let everyone who listens answer, 'Come!' Then let all who are thirsty come: all who want it may have the water of life, and have it free."
On the Cross, Love flows,on this throne we see Love been poured on us and into our hearts. Truly, God the Holy Spirit precedes from God the Father and God the Son.
So in today's day gospel, Jesus told his disciples to beware of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees which we have seen was their lack of Love, just following the letter of the Law and not its Spirit.
Romans 2:29
"The real Jew is the one who is inwardly a Jew, and real circumcision is in the heart, a thing not of the letter but of the spirit. He may not be praised by any human being, but he will be praised by God."
After telling his disciples to beware of the Jews, he said all hidden things will be uncovered.
After this he turned to his friends thus including all who do not know him but he still loves them to the extent of coming to die for them. To everyone who does not know Jesus Christ, he calls you his friend because he is always willing to pour his love on you if you will surrender your life to him and accept his friendship.
What he says to his friends is that, they should not be afraid of those who can kill only the body. Do not be afraid. Only be afraid of neglecting God's Love, neglecting God's Love is hell, because God fills all things and rejecting his Love and Presence just means bringing torment to your soul.
Approach God and experience an overwhelming Love that you will not regret, he offers it to all who are willing to be stamped with the Holy Spirit, Love. Remember, where Love flows, God's throne is.
By Sylvester Amakye-Quayson
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