Breaking the Word

28^thWeek in Ord. Time, Saturday – 16^th October 2021 — Gospel: Lk 12,8-12

Unforgiven Blasphemy

With great confidence, Jesus entrusted his disciples to the care of the Holy Spirit. For in his teaching on prayer, he concluded with the Father’s promise of the Holy Spirit (11,13). This Spirit, whose goal is to lead believers into all truth (Jn 16,13) and remind them of Jesus’ words (Jn 14,26), would be with them when they face hostile forces in the world (Lk 12,11). This Spirit, who is promised to all who believe and are baptized (Acts 2,28-39), would be their one source of strength, wisdom and consolation. In matters of Christian witness, Jesus contrasts those who speak against the Son of man (12,8-9) with those who blasphemy against the Spirit (Lk 12,10). Those who speak against the Son of man speak out of ignorance. They recognize Jesus as mere human created reality. They will be forgiven. However, those who blaspheme against the Spirit speak out of Christian knowledge. They attack Jesus in the source of his divine existence and so they deny the source of their own divine existence. Their blasphemy is a radical rejection of their Christian life and they will never be forgiven.

28^th Week in Ord. Time, Friday – 15^th October 2021 — Gospel:       Lk 12,1-7

Becoming His Friends

The crowd surrounding Jesus kept getting bigger and bigger. Luke expresses Jesus’ closeness to them by showing, “I tell you, my friends”. Jesus didn’t become intoxicated by the growing human popularity. He wasn’t trying to feed his own ego by multiplying followers. He was interested in trying to win true friends. In fact, as he instructed his listeners to care less about what happens to them during their life than what will happen beyond death, he called them my friends. Jesus wants our friendship. Indeed, grace is a gift that elevates our limited human nature so that we can relate to God no longer simply as his creatures, but as his friends. His friends are those whom He dearly loved and had taken into the greatest intimacy and familiarity. He was making known to them whatever He had heard from His Father. He was giving them the best instructions, the most faithful and friendly advice, and proper precautions, “be not afraid of those who will kill the body and after that they have no more that they can do.” Finally, Jesus showed his followers how to be friends, by laying down his life for them. It was the discovery of Christ as a true friend, and a true companion, that inspired the great saint like Teresa of Avila.