Monday of 7th
Week of Easter: reflection
Theme: Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
Reading:
Acts 19:1-8
Dear friends in Christ, the question St Paul asked the
disciples he found in Ephesus, as recorded in today's first reading, who had
been converted and taught about Christ by Apollos, continues to beg for answers
from Christians today. The question is simple, but its answer requires a
thorough examination of one's life. He asked if they had received the Holy
Spirit and, in all honesty, they said no.
In Gal
5:19-22, St Paul listed the fruits of the Holy Spirit as prudence, love, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control. Then,
the fruits of a life devoid of the presence of the Holy Spirit were listed as
immorality, indecent actions, idolatry, witchcraft, enmity, lies, jealousy,
anger, ambitiousness, division, envy, drunkenness, and orgies.
When we compare the fruits of the Holy Spirit to the fruits
that many Christians bear in our society, we can't help but wonder if we truly
received the Holy Spirit the day our bishops laid hands on us, or if the Holy
Spirit we received is still active in our lives.
Which fruits
stand out in your life? Fruits of a life controlled by the Holy Spirit or those
of a life devoid of the Holy Spirit? A closer look at how things are in our
world will reveal that one of the reasons our world has become a theatre of
evil is that people whose lives manifest the fruits of a life devoid of the
presence of the Holy Spirit are greater in number, even in our Christian communities.
Therefore, it makes sense to ask this important question again: have you
received the Holy Spirit?
We are in
the week of Novena to the Holy Spirit. Let us open ourselves through prayers and
invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, so that His fire will burn away the evil fruits
in us and, then, revive His own fruits that are lying dormant in our lives. When
this happens, our world will be a beautiful home.
May the
Holy Spirit guide and direct you as you embark on this Week’s activities. Amen.
Fr. Isaac
C. Chima
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