Wednesday, May 9, 2018
TODAY'S REFLECTION - WEDNESDAY-6TH WEEK OF EASTER
St. Peter Nolasco, Confessor
Acts 17:15,22-18:1/ Ps 148:1-2,11-14/ Jn 16:12-15
DO I KNOW THE GOD I SERVE?
Beloved, in our today's first reading, St. Paul addresses the Greeks before the council of the Areopagus of Athens. Athens at the time was the centre of Greek intellectual life and piety. St. Paul's speech was about Christianity and piety. Before the speech, he had gone round the city and noticed the various gods scattered all over. Among the various gods, one of them was labeled "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD". John Mbiti said, the African is notoriously religious. There is a lot of yearning for God. But which God and where? Many are moving from place to place, Church to Church, looking for solutions to their problems. We have hills, mountains, rivers, rocks, shrines, etc. We forget that, God is the MAKER, not what is made by human hands. Paul therefore used the occasion to start from the known to the unknown. Grace builds on nature. We are called upon to reflect on INCULTURATION. Which aspects of our cultural practices should we discard, maintain or modify as Christians or Muslims?
The people of Athens keenly listened to Paul concerning the need to worship the one and only True God, which they didn't know. In the process, when Paul mentioned the rising from the dead, some of them burst out laughing; others said, " We would like to hear you talk about this another time", but there were some who attached themselves to him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius the Aeropagite and a woman called Damaris and others besides (Acts17:32-34). Here, we are reminded that as we preach the good news or go out for evangelization or outreach or crusade, some people will mock us, others will switch off, but some will listen and believe.
Friends, Jesus continues to assure us that, when the Spirit of Truth comes, He will lead us to all truth. If we have the Holy Spirit, we may not need all the logical, intellectual, theoretical, philosophical, theological, dogmatic argumentation. Or rather, we will use them more profitably. Let us pray for the grace to be docile to the Holy Spirit. We also pray that the Holy Spirit should direct, guide, enlighten and teach us the truth and the True God. BE BLESSED.
Fr. Gaa (0206854323/0240308878)