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How can those who have not heard of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ experience the joy of the Gospels if we do not share it with them? If we simply hold to preaching the Gospel by our actions of good works. Are muslims, hindus and any others of the world religions incapable of good works? Of course not! Some may do greater works than we.

Why then are we so afraid to share the joy of our resurrected Lord with the rest of the world by our words? For it is our Lord alone who will open hearts and minds to receive Him. We have already been given a powerful advocate and should be fully alive living in the Spirit! Let us therefore be bold in our endeavours for come what may, we will always have Christ by our side. Amen

First reading

Acts 16:11-15 ·

The Lord opened Lydia’s heart to accept what Paul was saying

Sailing from Troas we made a straight run for Samothrace; the next day for Neapolis, and from there for Philippi, a Roman colony and the principal city of that particular district of Macedonia. After a few days in this city we went along the river outside the gates as it was the sabbath and this was a customary place for prayer. We sat down and preached to the women who had come to the meeting. One of these women was called Lydia, a devout woman from the town of Thyatira who was in the purple-dye trade. She listened to us, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying. After she and her household had been baptised she sent us an invitation: ‘If you really think me a true believer in the Lord,’ she said ‘come and stay with us’; and she would take no refusal.

Gospel

John 15:26-16:4

The Spirit of truth will be my witness

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘When the Advocate comes,

whom I shall send to you from the Father,

the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father,

he will be my witness.

And you too will be witnesses,

because you have been with me from the outset.

‘I have told you all this that your faith may not be shaken.

They will expel you from the synagogues,

and indeed the hour is coming

when anyone who kills you

will think he is doing a holy duty for God.

They will do these things

because they have never known

either the Father or myself.

But I have told you all this,

so that when the time for it comes

you may remember that I told you.’

If the joy and peace of Easter has fizzled out and we are back to our daily routines and drudgery, then we are not living in the Spirit as we called to do. For we began our journey in Lent with the desire to be renewed, rejuvenated and prayed to the Lord to bring to fruition our Lenten observances. We renewed our baptismal promises at Easter Vigil, and have been brought to new life once again in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

Let us choose then to remain steadfast and pray to the Holy Spirit as we prepare our hearts for Pentecost this very day. Let us bask in the joy of our resurrected Lord as we live in the light of His resurrection. For our Lord will heal, restore and empower us to share His glory with all. Amen Alleluia!

First reading

Acts 4:23-31 ·

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the word of God boldly

As soon as Peter and John were released they went to the community and told them everything the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard it they lifted up their voice to God all together. ‘Master,’ they prayed ‘it is you who made heaven and earth and sea, and everything in them; you it is who said through the Holy Spirit and speaking through our ancestor David, your servant:

Why this arrogance among the nations,

these futile plots among the peoples?

Kings on earth setting out to war,

princes making an alliance,

against the Lord and against his Anointed.

‘This is what has come true: in this very city Herod and Pontius Pilate made an alliance with the pagan nations and the peoples of Israel, against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, but only to bring about the very thing that you in your strength and your wisdom had predetermined should happen. And now, Lord, take note of their threats and help your servants to proclaim your message with all boldness, by stretching out your hand to heal and to work miracles and marvels through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ As they prayed, the house where they were assembled rocked; they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the word of God boldly.

Gospel

John 3:1-8

Unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God

There was one of the Pharisees called Nicodemus, a leading Jew, who came to Jesus by night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him.’ Jesus answered:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

unless a man is born from above,

he cannot see the kingdom of God.’

Nicodemus said, ‘How can a grown man be born? Can he go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?’ Jesus replied:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

unless a man is born through water and the Spirit,

he cannot enter the kingdom of God:

what is born of the flesh is flesh;

what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Do not be surprised when I say:

You must be born from above.

The wind blows wherever it pleases;

you hear its sound,

but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.

That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.’

How can we know the depths, heights, breadth of the love of God if we do not dwell in His Holy Spirit. Offered to us without cost at the price of His God our Father’s only Begotten Son who laid His life down for us so that we can be free to live in His Spirit and love.

How then can we be rid of the spirits that had rejected the Lord our God, who now seek the ruin of souls. Through mischief, lies, propaganda, temptations of the flesh and more. How can we remain steadfast in our resolve to be Holy as our Heavenly Father?

The answer has been and will always be our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Through Him everything is possible. In His great love and mercy He had given us the gifts of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the supreme gift of Himself through the Holy Eucharist. And when it was time to take His seat at the right hand of God our Heavenly Father, He did not leave us orphans. Through Him and the Holy Spirit we have sonship and daughterhood.

Cleanse me Lord that I may be white as snow. Let my body be a temple, filled with the Holy Spirit. That I may bring You glory by the way I live my life. Amen

First Reading

1 Corinthians 2:10-16 ·
The Spirit reaches even the depths of GodThe Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God. After all, the depths of a man can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be known by the Spirit of God. Now instead of the spirit of the world, we have received the Spirit that comes from God, to teach us to understand the gifts that he has given us. Therefore we teach, not in the way in which philosophy is taught, but in the way that the Spirit teaches us: we teach spiritual things spiritually. An unspiritual person is one who does not accept anything of the Spirit of God: he sees it all as nonsense; it is beyond his understanding because it can only be understood by means of the Spirit. A spiritual man, on the other hand, is able to judge the value of everything, and his own value is not to be judged by other men. As scripture says: Who can know the mind of the Lord, so who can teach him? But we are those who have the mind of Christ.

Gospel

Luke 4:31-37
‘I know who you are: the Holy One of God’Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the devil, throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, ‘What teaching! He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.’ And reports of him went all through the surrounding countryside.