Shanborlang Mawrie csc –
Readings: Acts 16:22-34; Jn 16:5-11
When I reflect on today’s gospel reading, I find the love and concern of Jesus towards his disciples who had left everything to follow him. He recognizes that his disciples are sad and disappointed.
There are such times in our lives too when we experience sadness when someone who has been significant for us, or has loved or valued us are dead or are away from us. This is why Jesus tells his disciples “For your advantage I go away, for if I go away the helper will come to you.” In the same way, Jesus tells me that when I face a problem, helplessness, or pain, I am not alone, but Jesus is always with me.
Sometimes I do not realize when something is changing or missing in my life. There are times I get upset and angry when I have experienced moments of doubt or when my world seems upside down. I feel that there is a powerful force coming from within me that gives me the strength to go on in life. I believe it is the power of the Holy Spirit that works within me. It is the same Spirit that Jesus had promised. He has enlightened me, taught me, and helped me to see things from God’s perspective and not just my own.
Sometimes, the Holy Spirit shows me something that I really need to see, to make a right judgment and hold on to it. As we see the works of the Holy Spirit in the first reading, through the intervention of Paul and Silas, the Holy Spirit saves the life of the jailer who tried to end his life. We see that the disciples of Jesus have become human channels of the Holy Spirit. The personal question to reflect upon is: Am I an instrument of the Holy Spirit to save lives of others?