In the Second Reading today, we hear, “Do nothing that will grieve the Holy Spirit.” In the Gospel, we hear, “They will be taught by God.” As I am walking through Spain, I am struck by all the religious buildings, monasteries, Church buildings, road side shrines. Many of the churches are leafed in gold with stunning interiors, making our own churches look very poor indeed, though it is true that they have had the faith for two thousands years and we have only been here a short while. As stunning as the churches and buildings are, there is also another stunning thing of abandoned monasteries and churches, which is just as surprising. It means there were generations where the faith was where people gave their time and love, and I wonder if that is lost now. These fallen monuments of faith remind me of the necessity and the fragility of our faith. Buildings made out of stone will crumble but they crumble because the heart turned to stone first. They forgot how to love the Lord with their whole heart and so a faith, which looked as unmovable as a stone monastery, crumbled to the ground.
So we go back to the First Reading, what are we doing or not doing that is the grieving the Holy Spirit? How is our relationship with the Holy Spirit? How are we listening and letting Him breathe into our lives? How are we being taught by God and how are we listening? Love builds our churches on their fragile footing. Our faith is only on strong footing if we are being taught by God Himself. If we rely on others to do all the teaching, we can not grow. Only God Himself can remedy our faith’s weakness and fill the void of what He is trying to teach us. He needs to teach us, that is why we are called to listen on a daily basis for His voice.
On my journey here in Spain, I have made an expression that is there is no wheels on your butt, meaning that if you want to complete the journey, you must move or you will not finish. Our life is one big pilgrimage towards God. Or it should be. If God is far away, we know who has moved.
This morning as I was walking, I was thinking how we must delight and celebrate more in the Eucharist. Each celebration is an amazing time where God comes down and comes into our souls. They say that the most painted scene in the world is the scene of the Annunciation where Mary is told she will receive Jesus and become one with Him. It is an amazing scene with so much in it. God’s trust in mankind, Mary’s response. It is truly a Divine moment. But so is the moment when God has chosen to be with you and I. Do you know, do you understand this, that God doesn’t have to allow you and I to receive the Eucharist? He allows us to receive Him, often at the cost of being defiled and treated like a common thing, a piece of bread. Can you imagine the indignation of God being treated like a piece of bread? Do you think that He has to allow that? He does not, yet He will take the chance in order to become one with us. In the Old Testament, a man was struck dead for touching the ark disrespectfully. Don’t you know that that could easily happen today? In justice it should happen; in mercy it does not. Besides all that, do we realize how we are so blessed, how God in His great love reaches out to us, loves us in the Eucharist? We should sing with joy each time. We should wait eagerly for each Mass. If we do not, we must pray for such a grace. We do not want our house to be fallen, ruined by our lack of faith. Even worse than that fall though would be that we never experience God. Don’t you think of all things that saddens the Holy Spirit, there could be none more than that? In the scene of the Annunciation, the Holy Spirit espoused Mary as a bride and conceived Jesus within her. Doesn’t the Holy Spirit wait for that experience in our own lives? Let us grieve the Holy Spirit no longer. Let us be taught by God today. Let us pray for the grace to sing of the great love which God has granted us.