03 June 2022 – Friday, 7th Week of Easter (Triduum 3 | Pentecost Novena Day 8, Rosary to the Holy Spirit & Mass) (Year C)

by Fr Stanley Antoni

Again Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as Paracletus. Paracletus is understood as a Friend or a Companion, a Counselor who reveals, who guides, discloses and glories in truth.

So today as we gather here to reflect on this theme: Holy Spirit, nourish us with Your WORD, I propose, I suggest we ask three questions:-

Who is a friend?
What is the WORD?
And how does the WORD nourish?

These are important questions if we are to reflect today’s theme.

The first question: Who is a friend?

A friend is someone who helps us to grow in truth, virtue and faith. This is why the great Saint Thomas Aquinas used friendship as his spiritual ability. If the spirit, the Paracletus, is the Spirit of Truth, that means that friendship with the Holy Spirit must be based on authenticity, honesty and care. Because the Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, Spirit of Trust and Spirit of Love.

That is why the Paracletus is a companion. He assists us in our search for truth and love. He always proposes and never imposes. He respects and He waits. That is why the Paracletus is our co-discerner. He is not the prime or the proto-discerner. He discerns with us.

So that is why today Paracletus is someone who seeks friendship, who wants to befriend us.

The second question: What is the WORD?

The word in the Old Testament is known as Dabar and in the New Testament, it is called the Logos. In both the Testaments we can see the WORD carries, I think, three significances.

The first one: the WORD is the ultimate source of nature of things.
The second: the WORD is intelligence, wisdom, understanding and truth.
Third: the WORD is also is seen as utterance, right language or dialogue.

So what is this WORD all about?

The WORD creates.
The WORD is intelligible (it means we can understand, we can grasp).
Third, the WORD is communicable.

And all these we see in the Bible and that is why, for the Jews and for the Christian, the WORD is very, very important.

So how does the WORD nourish?

The bible records how the Paracletus or the Spirit as revealed, guided and disclosed Dabar and Logos. When the Spirit reveals, when the Spirit discloses, we can notice, we can trace back, we can somehow grasp how the Spirit has nourished humanity historically in diverse ways, with the WORD of God.

First, the WORD is believed to have created everything out of nothing. So all those who reflect on nature will be nourished and grow in the sense of awe. When you have the sense of awe, you will come to know the Creator. That is why the medieval philosophers will say God has given human beings, humanity, two books – one is the Bible, the other is Nature.

The second, the WORD was revealed as the law. The law that nourished the Israelites, the law that somehow enabled the Israelites to grow in identity. The word they became basis for their existence, their theology, their liturgy and their morality.

What is theology? The law became the basis for them on what to believe. At the same time, liturgy – how to worship. And finally, morality – how to live their lives. That is why the law is the centre of the Israelites. So the Spirit revealed that the law is an act of love as if like the Lover knows the vulnerability of the Beloved. That is why the Lover gives law so that we can remain in His love. So law is an act of love. So all those who follow keep the law. That law binds them with God and that is why the Spirit reveal the WORD as the law.

Third, the WORD took the form of prophecy. Prophecy, when the poor were manipulated, to remind people of God’s justice. So, the Spirit at the particular time, nourish, continue to remind us our faith need to be reflected, measured the manner we take care of the poor. Fail to do so, you will see Prophets arise. Prophets are rejected but very few is able to see Prophets as God’s grace, God’s gift.

God loves His people so much He sends Prophets so that they will listen, listen to His WORD . They will repent and they will renew the land. And that is why we can see Prophet Amos challenge the Israelites to grow in a deeper sense of prudence. When you have a wrong understanding of prudence, that is where we disregard prophecy. That is where we manipulate and justify injustice in our land. That is why Amos was a very challenging, very radical prophet.

Fourth, the WORD also urged people to grow in wisdom, guided by compassion as if like the Spirit moves us to guard our hearts, to remain warm, beating and alive.. A heart that is able to emphatise and remain humble. And this is what fear of God is all about. And we see this in the wisdom literature that somehow wisdom must be guided by compassion.

And finally, the WORD took flesh in Jesus. THE WORD . And Jesus assured us the unconditional love and mercy of God. That WORD became flesh. That is why through the Spirit, we come to know Jesus is not just a great human being, not just a prophet or guru or moral reformer or a rogue. He is God. He revealed to us that face of God. That is why when the word became flesh, Jesus helped us to see who is God.

So from the bible and from the Christian tradition, we can be certain of two things. As I narrated to you five ways of how the Spirit nourished us with the word of God. Two things we can be certain of:-

First, the Holy Spirit is our true companion who is every willing to guide, disclose and enrich us with the word.

Second, that WORD always nourishes. It will never kill. That WORD will nourish.

These are the two things we are certain and we need to be convinced of this. So if Paracletus has enriched us with the word in the past, He will surely nourish us with the word for our time. That is why today we need to ask certain questions, some reflective questions so that we too will be nourished by the Holy Spirit.

The first question: In what way do you think the WORD will nourish the post-Covid church? Where and how you think the WORD is going to nourish us? By organising how to sing song? Or is it more than that? How the WORD is going to nourish us as we come out from this Covid?

Second, what is the WORD saying to us as we witness a massive decline of people coming to church? I just want to reflect with you, without labeling anybody, without disturbing anybody (because sometimes we are very touchy), just want to reflect with you the inconsistency in our lives. Catholics go to school, Catholics go shopping, Catholics go marketing, Catholics go to work but they don’t come to the Eucharist. Isn’t there inconsistency there? Why is there inconsistency there? It is up to you to reflect. Again, I am not judging anybody. I am just seeing the inconsistency that we manifest.

School is important, work is important, surely, marketing is important, surely, shopping oklah. Church? Community? Important? Not important? I don’t know but there is inconsistency. When there is inconsistency, that is a root cause of scandal in the church (according to Pope Francis and not according to me).

Third, how will the WORD nourish us as we face internal challenges of the church such as superstitious, racism, sexism, indifference to social issues, sex and financial scandals, family struggling? How the WORD is going to nourish us? Racism is very much alive. And how the WORD is going to nourish us? How to go about this? For us to reflect.

Fourth, how will the WORD continue to make sense, the efficaciousness, the relevance and the necessity of Sacraments to Catholics? Is Sacrament important? Why Sacraments are vital? What is Sacraments? Can Sacraments be merely online? Or it has to be physical? So how and how and how? So what is the WORD telling us? And how the WORD is going to nourish us as Sacraments are fundamental for Catholic faith?

How will the WORD fit? How will the WORD narrow the widening gap between the clergy and the lay people? Between the old and the young? Between devotions and social actions? How is the WORD going to narrow these? Can it be done? Because sometimes more and more clericalism, usually associated with priests and religious. If clericalism is understood as status consciousness, then clericalism exists at all levels. Senior/junior, clericalism. Doctor/lorry driver, clericalism. Bishop/priest, clericalism. Eldest son/youngest daughter, clericalism. Husband/wife, clericalism.

So do you witness clericalism in your family? No lah. Because clericalism only has to do with priests? We are terrible people. Majority/minority, clericalism. English speaking/Tamil speaking, English speaking takes the prime time for the Mass for the parish, Tamil speaking, ah. Clericalism. So how is the Spirit going to nourish us to narrow this gap? Will we allow the Spirit to do so? Don’t know. What is your opinion?

Will the WORD ask us to withdraw from the world and maintain our status quo that says “Old is enough. We are contented with old, we are happy to be nostalgic.” Or the WORD will endorse us, endorse all our liberal thinking that advocates ‘We need to revamp everything to something totally new’. Old does not make sense. Very cynical of old truths. Or third, will the WORD challenge us to integrate both old and new and evolve? Where and what you think the WORD will challenge us to do? Where do you think, what do you think the right understanding when you look at space and time in relation to the Holy Spirit?

Finally, how is the Spirit inspiring us to make Jesus the word real, imminent and necessary for our younger generation? How can we reach out to them? I am not saying they are evil, they are lazy. I am not saying that. How to reach out to them? Jesus is relevant. But as a church, how can we grow in creativity?

So my dear friends, if we believe in the Paracletus and the WORD is able to nourish us, we can see the people in the bible and learn from them how to be docile and how to be open to the WORD of God where the Spirit is leading us and courageous enough to establish friendship with Paracletus.

In today’s reading, we heard Paul decided to go to Rome instead of Jerusalem. Why Rome? Because that was the destination revealed to him by the Spirit, ‘You have to go to Rome, not Jerusalem’. And he remained faithful and he went to Rome because he placed his life in the hands of the Holy Spirit, to be guided by the WORD .

In the Gospel, John communicates to us how the WORDS of Jesus nourished and was fulfilled in Peter. Peter held on to the WORD of Jesus and that is how he remained a faithful shepherd. And that is how he died as a witness for Jesus.

And again, the best model, I suppose, is Mary. So when we can see Mary, especially during the Annunciation, she embraced three degrees of silence, when she was visited by Gabriel. In the sense the silence of the body, the silence of the mind and the silence of the soul. She was disturbed when Gabriel appeared and then she asked a simple question, ‘How can this be?’ Give me some logical answers. Help me to understand. Third, let it be done according to Your will.

That is why in our pursuit for truth, there are so many ways to start our journey to know and to seek the truth.

We can start with common sense where it answers the question ‘What is truth’.
Or we can start with science, asking the question ‘How’.
Or even we can start with philosophical reflection by asking the question ‘Why’.
Or even we can start theologically by asking the question ‘Who’.

Because for us, truth is the person called Jesus. That is why we relate to Jesus. When we relate with Jeuss, we know who, what how. What is truth all about. We can start anywhere we want. But the most important thing is are we holistic in our search for truth. Are we giving equal consideration when we seek the truth? And when we do that, I suppose, and I believe, we will come to know the truth. And that truth will liberate us. And that is why the easiest question in philosophy is ‘What is truth?’. And yet, people like to complicate this question. It is the easiest question to answer ‘What is truth?’.

Finally, Oscar Romero said something on the WORD . I am going to quote to you. I am sure by now you are tired with Oscar Romero. Anyway, to sideline a bit. Why am I preaching about Oscar Romero? If we believe every epoch God raises a Saint to be our model, to be our intercessor, to be our friend so that we will grow in faithfulness, in proclaiming the word of God, for example during the medieval period, Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure were considered as giants, so for now for our time, after so long of being delayed, and delayed, and delayed, Pope Francis canonised Oscar Romero.

Why? Look around. What is happening to our world? Who is the best role model to counter all that is happening in our country, or around the world? It is Oscar Romero. We need such caliber. We need such holy leaders. We need such shepherd. And that is why Oscar Romero is important, at least for me. That does not mean you have to follow. Holy Spirit proposes.

I am going to quote:-

I have tried during the Sundays of Lent to keep uncovering the divine revelation continued in the WORD that is read here at Mass, God’s program to save people and individual. This is the church’s mission. We have a duty of pointing the realities of how God’s plan is reflected among us or despised among us. Let no one take it ill that the light of God’s word read in our Masses. We enlighten social, political, economic realities. If we did not, it would not be Christianity for us.

Saint Oscar Romero

So my dear friends, two things we are certain of, Paracletus is our Counselor, He is our friend. He will lead us and guide us to the truth. And that truth is the WORD of God.

The second, the WORD of God always nourishes.

So the question we need to ask, are we willing to befriend Paracletus, who demands authenticity, who demands honesty and caring?

The Paracletus, like it or not, challenges us to be Cristo Centric. He will always challenges us to put Jesus at the centre, centre of our lives, of our parish and of our Diocese. And that is why the Paracletus exposes our compromises when we tend to push aside or replace Jesus with rituals, with laws, with status, with politics, with ministry, with Mass, with devotions. Because there can be devotion without Jesus.

And that is why today, my dear friends, the Holy Spirit will nourish us with the WORD of God. Because He is the author and He knows the depth of God. When He knows the depth of God, He knows how to lead and how to nourish. So let us pray that Oscar Romero will continue to intercede for us, that all of us gathered here will discover that WORD that is going to nourish our parish, our families and our individual life.

Two things we are certain: The Spirit is our Consoler, our Guide and the WORD always Nourishes.

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