A friend of mine asked me why I chose to name this blog 'La Palabra' which is in English 'The Word'. I have been thinking of an answer to give this friend of mine which would convince him enough. I think it is in his WORD we feel his presence and it is his presence that breaks those chains that has entangled us.The story of
creation in the Book of Genesis tells us that God spoke, and great things
happened (Gen 1 and 2). John tells us in the Gospel that this Word spoken by
God took flesh and became [human] (1, 1 – 5). The Word of God is so powerful
that the entire creation came from it, and this power in God’s Word is the Holy
Spirit. This Spirit of God is seen in action also in the liberation of God’s
people from the land of slavery, injustice, exploitation, disarray and the
place of no-future (Ex 13 and 14). It is the same Spirit we saw in the prophets
of old like Elijah (IKgs 17 and 18), Elisha, Isaiah,Jeremiah, Amos, Daniel (in
defense of Susanna), etc. Today, the universal Church (you and I), need the
presence of this Holy Spirit.
The first
reading indicates the double witnessing experienced by the early Church. Hence
Peter says, “We and the Holy Spirit.” Both the Holy Spirit and the Church bear
witness that Jesus Christ is alive and never to die again, and that is why the
words of the apostles were powerful. Without the Spirit, the Word we proclaim
in the name of God becomes dead formula; no longer speaking meaningfully to our
contemporary situations. Also, without the Word of God, the Spirit becomes
uncontrolled enthusiasm, devoid of the original witness of the Christ event. It
is the Holy Spirit that make us feel the presence of Jesus Christ; it helps us
understand God’s will and method of doing things; it gives us the courage to
accomplish good deeds, and to direct our thoughts, words and actions for the
good of all and for the glory of God.
Wherever the
Word is convincingly proclaimed, there is the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Shortly after the dead of Jesus, Peter and the other disciples were still
stunned by the experience of their Master’s Passion. When he needed them most,
Judas betrayed him; Peter denied him three times, and the rest of his friends
fled in fear. Confused and saddened, the disciples began to think that the
future was hopeless and that their journey to greatness and eternal redemption
has ended, so they decided to return to their old profession. It is at this
point of discouragement and feeling of failure that Jesus Christ came to them.
After a long
night of loneliness and toil, the dawn of glory and breakthrough arrived; his
presence radically changes everything for good. The darkness is overcome by
light; the fruitless work becomes an easy and abundant catch of fish; the
feeling of tiredness and loneliness is transformed into joy and peace.
We all do
experience long or short period of darkness, unsuccessful toils, discouragement
of all kinds, loneliness and depression. We also do have moment that we think
that God has abandoned us, and no longer cares what will happen to us; a time
we would want to give up on our dreams in life. But he is never very far away
from us. We only need to recognize his presence in whichever form his comes to
us and to understand his method.
We always want
to succeed in whatever thing we do; God also wants this too. However, it is
important for to know that successful life has two wings to fly: human effort
and the grace of God or God’s intervention. For some, success comes purely by
human effort and there is nothing like divine grace or intervention in the
history of success. People like this make themselves slaves to work, and can do
anything (no matter how evil it is) to get what they want. Their maxim is ‘The
end justifies the means.’ The second kind of people are those “good Churchmen
and women” who do not care about work or making honest efforts to succeed in
life. They rather move from one prayer program to another searching for
miracles and breakthroughs. There is need to let God help us succeed but we
must have to combine our efforts with faith and trust in God. Prayer alone is
not enough without efforts because the grace of God does not operate in a
vacuum. So also human professionalism and efforts may not bring us the success,
peace of heart and joy we need without God’s intervention. Peter and his
friends were professional fishermen but success does not always depend on our
expertise. It is not by power, not by might but by the Spirit of the Lord that
we succeed in life (Zech 4, 6). Therefore let us join the psalmist and say “I
will praise you Lord for you have rescued me.”
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