The Fifth Gospel
Listening to the Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.
You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul's most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!
Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend;
Give them virtue's sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end.
Amen. Alleluia.
Listening to the Word
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Reflection
We are lucky because we do not have only one Gospel telling us about Jesus, but we have four gospels that are a real mine showing us what Jesus, the Son of God, did and said in those days he was here on earth. I like to see how the evangelists described Jesus, according to their sensitivity in faithfulness to the Apostles and the Holy Spirit. For example, we know that Luke had a strong inclination toward the poor. This aspect emerges in several passages of his Gospel. That John lived together with Jesus, and he was close to him, so he was called the “beloved one.”
Last Sunday with the Ascension of the Lord and this Sunday with the sending of the Holy Spirit, the solemnity of Pentecost, Jesus entrusted to the Church, and therefore to us the commitment of being witnesses of Him through our own lives. We are called to be witnesses of him where we live and work. Hopefully, we are not satisfied with our being good within our Parish and the groups we belong to. We must reach out to people, to our colleagues, co-workers, and schoolmates, and to witness Jesus, his way of living, behaving, encountering people, dealing with them, etc. This is the “Fifth Gospel” that we write with our lives, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we cannot make it, if we were not assisted by the gift that Jesus, promised to his disciples before his departure. The Holy Spirit is given. We need to invoke Him, to ask His assistance so that we can make the right decisions, we can speak out the right words and we can be faithful to the will of the Father. He has a double function: He will remind us about the deeds and words of Jesus, and He will teach us what to do in all the circumstances of our life. We understand that for us to remember the deeds and words of Jesus, we need to be familiar with the Word of God. Let us never be tired and lazy in understanding better His Word. Moreover, the Holy Spirit will teach us the right actions and words as far as we will allow Him to talk to our hearts in silence. Let us have short moments of recollection where we can allow the Spirit, God to say a word to us. The Holy Spirit badly needs our intelligence and our talents. The decisions in life are never easy and most of the time it is necessary to discern properly. It means that we have to collect information and ask friends and other people for suggestions, advice, etc. Increasing my knowledge through readings and studies will allow me and the Holy Spirit to make better decisions. God will not write to you the right solution or what you have to do. He treats you as an adult and therefore He asks you, to think, reflect, discern, and make your decision. The more I am familiar with the Lord, the more I will be able to take decisions according to His will.
Because of the Holy Spirit, we can continue writing the story of God with His people.
Reflection Questions
Gospel Reflections
Allowing Jesus to Change Us
Who Is Jesus for Me? From Encounter to Mission
