THE HOLY SPIRIT: GIVER OF COURAGE


MONDAY, SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER

Act 19:1-8; Ps 68:2-7; Jn 16:29-33

The Holy Spirit of Courage

The Holy Spirit is God, and his presence makes us gradually realise the power of God. As God, he is the creator of all things, and everything obeys his will, which is the will of the Father and the Son, for he is the Spirit of them both. Hence, the spirit he generates in us is born in the likeness of God and gradually enters into the inheritance of divine power and authority. On this, Saint Paul reminded us in his letter to Romans 8:15 that we have received the Spirit of adoption to make us cry Abba Father, and not the spirit of fear and cowardice. The Holy Spirit we have received brings us to inherit God with Jesus Christ. The path into this inheritance is the same path through which we increase in the communion of the same Spirit, namely, the path of knowledge of Jesus Christ and his mysteries. By faith in the Son of Man, we increase in our understanding of the Eternal Word, who became man for us, and in the knowledge of the Father, whose will he came to accomplish on earth for our salvation. The knowledge raises our status as sons in the Son and empowers us to act in his authority. Thus, the better the disciples understood the words of the Son of Man, the more they believed. “His disciples said to Jesus, ‘Now you are speaking plainly and not using metaphors! Now we see that you know everything, and do not have to wait for questions to be put into words; because of this we believe that you came from God.’”

Their understanding of the plain words of Jesus Christ did not turn them into witnesses without the Holy Spirit, who transforms us into sons of God and empowers us thereby to act with the authority of the Son. “Jesus answered them: ‘Do you believe at last? Listen; the time will come—in fact, it has come already—when you will be scattered, each going his own way and leaving me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.’” Unless we are born anew in the Spirit, we cannot witness or proclaim Jesus Christ to be God. Flesh and blood, enslaved to sin, have not such facility or power to bear witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The reason is that the contrary forces in the world would overcome our fallen nature easily. Jesus confirms this by saying: “I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but be brave: I have conquered the world.” The Son of Man overcame the world and its prince through the power of the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit he is giving us that we may have his victory over the world and adverse forces in the world. The apostles denied Jesus during his trial and passion because they had not received the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit gave them participation in the life of God through the spiritual rebirth they received from him through their faith in Jesus Christ, they lived and wielded the power of God and the authority of the Son of Man. We must be groomed on the knowledge of the Son of Man to receive the Holy Spirit and acquire the power of witnessing to the risen Lord. The disciples that Saint Paul encountered at Ephesus were weak in their witnessing because they were ignorant of Jesus Christ and without the Holy Spirit. Paul noticed this weakness in their faith and asked: “‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?’ they answered, ‘No, we were never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit.’ ‘Then how were you baptised?’ he asked. ‘With John’s baptism,’ they replied.” They were subsequently baptised in the name of Jesus Christ and received the Holy Spirit. Our faith in Jesus Christ and our baptism was the foundation of our reception of the Holy Spirit of power, who gives us the courage to live our Christian faith to the full. If we still lack the courage to live for Jesus Christ in any area of our lives, it only indicates shallow knowledge of the Son of Man, which is a result of noncommittal to the Holy Spirit in prayer. When we commune adequately with the Lord through the Holy Spirit in prayer, we live our Christian faith unapologetically before all daily. “But the just shall rejoice at the presence of God, they shall exult and dance for joy. O sing to the Lord, make music to his name; rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence.”

Let us pray: May the power of the Holy Spirit come to us, we pray, O Lord, that we may keep your will faithfully in mind and express it in a devout way of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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