Jesus said to his disciples:
When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,
he will testify to me.
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.
— John 15:26-16:4
The peace of the Lord be with you. This weekend a parishioner lent me the latest book from Scott Hahn entitled Hope to Die, which has not only educated me, but given me a lot to think about.
Dr Hahn says it is by the workings of the Holy Spirit that all things have life and that the scriptures in the Greek translation make distinction between two forms of life: bios and zoe. Bios is physical life, and zoe is God’s divine life — that is God’s indwelling presence which makes people, places, and things Holy.
The Holy Spirit gives us “supernatural” life which is eternal. It is this very life that Jesus is referencing in the Gospel today. This is the same Spirit that restores the life of God in us at Baptism and Confirmation. It is the same Spirit that heals during Reconciliation, and Sacrament of the Sick. It is the Spirit that gives Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders their power. It is this spirit of truth that continues to dwell with in God’s Church and that guides us as followers to understand what God is calling us to do.
So today as we begin a new work week let us call on the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us in God’s truth, to help us to see with the eyes of faith, and to use Its power to give life to our actions. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.