Church: Teacher of Truth
Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ,
The scriptures for this weekend make reference to the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit? Many invoke the name of the Holy Spirit often, but how much have we reflected on the third person of the Most Holy Trinity?
Jesus, prior to his ascension, promised to send the Holy Spirit to teach his disciples everything and remind them of all that He told them (Jn 14:26). The Holy Spirit guides the Church through the centuries. But, the Spirit works, not through perfect human beings, but through men and women prone to sin.
We see in the reading from Acts of the Apostles this weekend, how the leaders of the Church met in council to discern a pastoral issue that arose. The apostles wrestled with the question of whether Christians needed to follow certain elements of the Mosaic Law. When the apostles issued a letter outlining their decision, they stated, “it is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us…”
The Church from its earliest days has relied on the prompting of the Holy Spirit to guide the leaders of the Church and to clarify how the Church should respond to challenges not explicitly addressed in Jesus’ teaching while he walked the earth. While there are some commonalities in all human struggles, the challenges of the 21st century are in many ways different from the ones in the 1st century. Jesus established His Church to teach the truth in His name until He returns. It is under the Holy Spirit’s guidance that the truth is preserved.
As individual disciples, we too should call often on the Holy Spirit to guide us in our daily struggles, to strengthen us in our pursuit of truth and in our fidelity to the faith of the Apostles.
Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life,
