By Father Rich Tomkosky
Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate to be with you always: the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows Him.”
The Holy Spirit, whom Jesus is talking about, is the soul of the Catholic Church and of our own spiritual life as individual members of the Church. He is the protector of the Catholic faith. This is why the gates of Hell will never prevail against the Catholic Church; because no matter what the crisis, the Holy Spirit is there to guide us through it.
Thankfully the survival of the Catholic Church doesn’t depend on us human beings. The Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity who brings us into union with the Father and the Eternal Son, who became one of us in Jesus. If we invite the Holy Spirit to work in our lives through His spiritual gifts, which we received in Baptism and Confirmation, and His daily inspirations, then we will have a new freedom in Christ.
We no longer will simply follow the “rules” of God out of slavish fear or a legalistic mentality but instead will obey the 10 Commandments and the teachings of the Catholic Church on faith and morals, even the difficult ones, out of a deeper sense of love for God and neighbor, with an interior freedom from the Holy Spirit. We will be converted more profoundly into the Truth in God rather than the make-believe things of the world, which human beings, who are not in tune with the Holy Spirit, stake their hopes on: money, worldly success, sinful pleasure and self-will in its various forms. The tragic end result of that focus is indifference to God and the things of God which could lead to eternal separation from the only source of Life, the Blessed Trinity. Jesus came so we would not settle for these false realities which will quickly dissipate in the light of eternity, but rather to have the fullness of life in Him.
Jesus reminds us the only way this fullness of life comes about. If we love Him then we will keep His Commandments, and He promises then to reveal Himself to us. What does this mean? Well, it means that our Catholic faith will come alive, and we sense ever more profoundly the Presence of our loving and merciful God in our daily life, sometimes in a tangible way, especially when we go through the difficult trials and tribulations of life when He is in reality most close to us.
Over time we will experience a deeper liberation in Christ and the peace in our life that the world neither can give to us or understand. This is the second deeper conversion in holiness, which we are all called to by our Baptism — to become a person guided more and more by the Holy Spirit who molds us over time into the image of Jesus, in all that we say, and think, and do. Let’s pray that God will bless each of us with that gift every day.
Once we have this real experience of liberation in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to better witness to others concerning the gift of faith. Saint Peter makes reference to this: “Beloved, sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope but do it with gentleness and reverence.” All of us have real opportunities to humbly, gently, and quietly (not loudly and obnoxiously) share how the Lord has worked and continues to work in our lives over time in our families, in our workplace, neighborhood, school, and social settings. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to make us more aware of these opportunities to witness and to have the courage that comes from Him to draw others to the Lord Jesus, who alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life and to the gift of the Catholic Church as the Ark of Salvation.
It’s only in the Holy Spirit that we can acknowledge that Jesus is Lord of the universe; it’s also only by drawing ever closer to God in prayer that we can effectively share our faith with our fellow human beings and to offer penance for the conversion of souls. May the Holy Spirit help us to do so in love; it’s the greatest gift we can share with others.
Our God is so good. Jesus promised to “prepare a place for us in His Father’s house.” He also said, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in the Father, and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” Never forget this beautiful promise of Jesus. God bless you.
Father Rich Tomkosky is the Pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish in Bedford and the Pastor of Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Beans Cove.
