May 8, 2024 | Wednesday
Wednesday of the Sixth Week of EasterActs 17:15, 22-18:1Psalm 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14John 16:12-15
Reflection: Sometimes words are not enough to express a whole concept or thought.
In school, for a lesson to be clearly understood, sometimes it must be supported by an experiment or a practical application before it can be explained well.
In life, no matter how many sermons we hear from our parents, they cannot cover everything about life. We must experience life to learn from it.
The same goes with faith; even the word of God could have a weight on us through our daily encounters with people and different situations.
This is true with other virtues such as love, forgiveness, temperance, courage, kindness, and others. Without the actual encounter, it will not be fully understood.
Biblical: This is what Jesus meant when he told his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” No matter how much Jesus would explain everything about life to his disciples, they cannot bear it for now. They cannot understand why he had to suffer, die and live again. They will not understand why he has to go back to his Father (at least for that moment).
But it does not mean they cannot understand, because Jesus said, “The Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears and will declare to you the things that are coming.”
This is the reason why Jesus is leaving his disciples with the Spirit of Truth, to be their guide to all the truth. It is the Spirit of Truth who will make us understand the things we do not understand.
Reflection: Obviously, Jesus did this out of concern for his disciples. Probably he knew his disciples so well that they needed guidance or else they would get lost. He feels for them that he sent them the Holy Spirit to be with them.
Through the Spirit of Truth, his disciples will be guided. But this will only be possible if they know the truth and will listen to the Spirit of Truth.
Contemporary: This is where the problem comes: when we do not know the truth, or even if we know it, we do not listen to the Spirit of Truth.
Alam nating mali, pero bakit ginagawa pa din? Tapos itatanong natin sa Diyos bakit tayo nagkaganito?
Kaya minsan hinahayaan tayo ng Diyos na maranasan an pagkakamali para matuto tayo. He allows the Spirit to teach us the lesson, so that next time (hopefully) we will not repeat the same mistake.
But there are times when we really do not know what to do. This is where the Spirit of Truth comes in. If we pray and consult God with patience and perseverance, the Spirit of Truth will reveal to us what we should do.
My dear brothers and sisters, words may not be enough to understand everything about life and God. But through the Spirit of Truth, we will be guided to understand, and that would be more than enough.