THE PANGS OF BRINGING TO BIRTH


FRIDAY, SIXTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE   

Acts 18:9-18; Ps 47:2-7; Jn 16:20-23

The Birthing of a Heavenly Man

We have vaguely explained the difficulty of transitioning from our earthly or natural life to a spiritual or heavenly life, abandoning our usual or natural way of living and doing things to adopt a spiritual way of thinking and living. Our explanation is vague because the reality is more complex than words can ever capture. Explaining the process of transition implies that we are all familiar with the way; however, that is not the case. The scripture says that anyone who is in Jesus Christ is a new creation, with the old creation gone. But many of us are yet to complete our transition into Jesus Christ. Because our resolutions to follow Jesus Christ are weak and short-lived, we come to life and die again, like the traditional Abikus or Ogbanjes, due to mortal sins not resolutely abandoned. We are not able to bring ourselves safely to birth in faith because of our inconstancy at prayer and sparse feeding on the word of God. Without cutting off worldly pleasures and attachments, we can never successfully give birth or embark on the heavenly journey. If we continue to change our holy intentions to embrace a life of holiness and true devotion to Jesus Christ, we risk never bearing any fruit for salvation. This period of the Church’s novena to the Holy Spirit is ideal to begin our spiritual journey with total dedication.  

With the aid of the Holy Spirit, who gives us the gift of faith in the word of God, we are able to conceive our spiritual selves. The spiritual self that each of us conceives with faith in the word of God is Jesus Christ within us. In this sense, we are mothers of Jesus Christ, bringing him to life within us. In this light, the Lord considers the pains and anxieties of his disciples part of their birth pangs. “I tell you most solemnly, you will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. A woman in childbirth suffers because her time has come, but when she has given birth to the child, she forgets the suffering in her joy that a man has been born into the world.” The new life which their interaction with the Son of Man has caused them to conceive will be delivered at the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not come unless the Son of Man is glorified. Thus, the coming of the Holy Spirit demonstrates that the Son of Man has entered his glory at the right hand of the Father, and therefore, can now be born in us. With his life joyfully received in each of us and collectively in the communion of the Church, his body, we can now walk the Way to fullness of Truth and Life. What we conceive within us through the power of the Holy Spirit is rightfully ours and will not be taken away from us, unless we throw it away ourselves. The Lord therefore added: “So it is with you: you are sad now, but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy, and that joy no one shall take from you.” Let us rekindle the joy by receiving the Holy Spirit anew for our spiritual walk in Christ Jesus.

Given that we are still on the journey into Jesus Christ, we are yet to fully comprehend the mystery. In a way, we are still being transformed into the glory of Jesus Christ. The spiritual life is received within the natural life that is sentenced to death. There is therefore a tension within each of us, for while the old life is going to death, the new life is headed for fullness of glory. The world, therefore, persecutes us, because we have sentenced to death the life which belongs to it, in favour of the heavenly life that is of God. God comes to our aid as he did in the case of Paul at Corinth. “Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced: I am with you. I have so many people on my side in this city that no one will even attempt to hurt you.” By this, we understand that our Christian struggles are better in the community of believers, for in the communion of the Church, we experience the fullness of God’s presence with us. So, let us pray that through this novena to the Holy Spirit, we may be renewed in the joy of salvation, individually and in our communion with each other in the Church, so that we may bear stronger testimony to Jesus Christ in our lives and through the life of the Church.

Let us pray: O God, who restore us to eternal life in the Resurrection of Christ, raise us up, we pray, to the author of our salvation, who is seated at your right hand, so that, when our Saviour comes again in majesty, those you have given new birth in Baptism may be clothed with blessed immortality. 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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