Psalm 104: 1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34 (Read)“When you send forth your spirit, they are created.”
Animated by the Spirit, the divine breath,
we who are His creatures sing of the glory
of our Creator.
“When you send forth your Spirit, you renew
the face of the earth.” God our Creator is the
source of all natural life. So also the Holy Spirit
is the source of all supernatural life. We are
nothing without the divine breath -- “When you
take away their breath, they perish and return
to their dust.”
It is this same creative breath that came down
on the disciples in that locked room St Luke
speaks of in our 1st reading (Acts 2: 1-11).
The Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to
go forth and proclaim the Gospel boldly to
men of all nations, speaking different tongues.
We too are called to be baptized in the Spirit,
and to receive the divine breath of the Lord.
Having been baptized in the Spirit, we are a
new creation, and are called to glorify the Lord
in what we do. In this way, as the Psalm says,
“May the Lord be glad in His works.”
Fortunately, for us too, the Spirit is manifested
in each of us for some benefit, as St Paul reminds
us in our 2nd reading (1 Cor 12: 3-7, 12, 13).
All we have to do is accept Christ and believe in him.
Without the breath of the Holy Spirit, we have
no spiritual life. But thanks to God's gift, we are
a new creation; we are baptized into Christ,
and we share in the divinity of our Lord.
And that alone gives us reason to praise God.
As our psalmist says, “Pleasing to Him be my theme;
I will be glad in the Lord.”
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. The Psalm affirms that the Lord sends out His Spirit to renew
the face of the earth. Tell of how you are affected by your having
received the Holy Spirit that is living on the inside of you.
2. Our psalmist prays that the Lord will be glad in His works! What
works are you doing that makes you one of those who are pleasing
to the Lord?
As I understand God's unlimited and supreme powers over the entire universe, when He takes away my breath, I die and return to dust. But, when My Lord sends out His Spirit, I am renewed and become a new creation. The Holy Spirit is the source of all life. Through Him, we are empowered to have strength, courage and boldness.
ReplyDeleteFor example, look at the case of Jesus' disciples! They were a bunch of cowards. But, after they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, they went out to the world and proclaimed the Gospel boldly, witnessing that Jesus is the Son of God.
What happened to me after I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, is that it helped me to develop a closer relationship with God. I gained an insight into the Scriptures and I
received a desire to glorify Jesus in every possible way. I overcame the temptation to ask the Holy Spirit 's guidance on a daily basis. I now depend on God for my life, knowing He knows best for me no matter what. In that sense my absolute trust in Him will be pleasing to the Lord. My life belongs to Him.
Thanks to God the Father, we have the 10 Commandments to guide us in this life…where would we be without them? It would certainly be a more chaotic world! Christ simplified it and said, Love God, and Love your neighbor……included in that is Love yourself…..you were created in God’s image! I think there are so many truly evil people in the world “that all of us” are pleasing to God most of the time.
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