From: Romans 8:22-27
Christians are Children of God (Continuation)
[26] Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to
pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for
words. [27] And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of
the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of
God.
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Commentary:
19-21. To make his point more vividly St Paul, in a metaphor, depicts the whole
of creation, the material universe, as a living person, groaning in pain impatiently
waiting for a future event, raising its head, straining to see something appear on
the horizon.
The material world is indeed, through God’s design, linked to man and his des-
tiny. “Sacred Scripture teaches that man was created ‘in the image of God,’ as
able to know and love his Creator, and as set by him over all earthly creatures
that he might rule them, and make use of them, while glorifying God” (Vatican II,
“Gaudium Et Spes”, 12). The futility to which creation is subject is not so much
corruption and death as the disorder resulting from sin. According to God’s plan
material things should be resources which enable man to attain the ultimate
goal of his existence. By using them in a disordered way, disconnecting them
from God, man turns them into instruments of sin, which therefore are subject
to the consequences of sin.
“Are we of the twentieth century not convinced of the overpoweringly eloquent
words of the Apostle of the Gentiles concerning the ‘creation (that) has been
groaning in travail together until now’ and ‘waits with eager longing for the revea-
ling of the sons of God’, the creation that ‘was subjected to futility’? Does not the
previously unknown immense progress — which has taken place especially in the
course of this century — in the field of man’s dominion over the world itself reveal
— to a previously unknown degree — that manifold subjection ‘to futility’? [...] The
world of the previously unattained conquests of science and technology—is it not
also the world ‘groaning in travail’ that ‘waits with eager longing for the revealing
of the sons of God’?” (Bl. John Paul II, “Redemptor Hominis”, 8).
Reestablishment of the order willed by God, bringing the whole world to fulfill its
true purpose, is the particular mission of the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, the true
Lord of history: “’The arm of the Lord has not been shortened.’ God is no less po-
werful today than he was in other times; his love for man is no less true. Our faith
teaches us that all creation, the movement of the earth and the other heavenly
bodies, the good actions of creatures and all the good that has been achieved in
history, in short everything, comes from God and is directed toward him.
“The action of the Holy Spirit may pass unnoticed because God does not reveal
to us his plans, and because man’s sin obscures the divine gifts. But faith tells
us that God is always acting. He has created us and maintains us in existence,
and he is leading all creation by his grace towards the glorious freedom of the
children of God” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 130).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: John 7:37-39
Different opinions about Jesus
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Commentary:
37-39. On each of the eight days of the Feast of Tabernacles the high priest went
to the pool of Siloam and, used a golden cup to bring water to the temple and
sprinkle it on the altar, in remembrance of the water which sprang up miraculous-
ly in the desert, asking God to send rain in plenty (cf. Ex l7:1-7). Meanwhile, a
passage from the prophet Isaiah was chanted (cf. Is 12:3) which told of the com-
ing of the Saviour and of the outpouring of heavenly gifts that would accompany
him; Ezekiel 47 was also read, in which it spoke of the torrents of water which
would pour out of the temple. Jesus, who would have been at this ceremony,
now proclaims – in the presence of a huge crowd, undoubtedly, because it was
the most solemn day of the festival – that that time has come: “If any one thirst,
let him come to me and drink . . .”. This invitation recalls the words of divine wis-
dom: “Come to me, you who desire me, and eat your fill” (Sir 24:19; cf. Prov 9:
4-5). Our Lord presents himself as him who can fill man’s heart and bring him
peace (cf. also Mt 11:28). In this connexion St Augustine exclaims: “You made
us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you” (”Con-
fessions”, 1, 1, 1).
Jesus’ words as preserved in v. 37 led St Alphonsus to write this tender commen-
tary full of love for our Saviour: “In Jesus Christ we have three fountains of grace.
The first is the fountain of mercy, where we can be purified of all the stains of our
sins. […] The second is that of love: no one who meditates on the suffering and
shame that Jesus Christ undergoes out of love for us, from his birth to his death,
can fail to be kindled by that happy fire which comes down on earth to set on fire
the hearts of all men. […] The third is the fountain of peace: let him who seeks
peace of heart come to me, who is the God of peace” (”Meditations for Advent”,
med. 8).
Furthermore, when Jesus speaks of “rivers of living water” flowing out of his heart,
he is probably referring to the prophecy in Ezekiel 36:25ff where it is announced
that in messianic times the people will be sprinkled with clean water and will be
given a new spirit and their heart of stone will be changed for a heart of flesh. In
other words, Jesus, once he has been exalted as befits his position as Son of
God, will send at Pentecost the Holy Spirit, who will change the hearts of those
who believe in him. “For this reason, Christian tradition has summarized the at-
titude we should adopt towards the Holy Spirit in just one idea – docility. That
means we should be aware of the work of the Holy Spirit all around us, and in
our own selves we should recognize the gifts he distributes, the movements and
institutions he inspires, the affections and decisions he provokes in our hearts”
(St. J. Escriva, “Christ is Passing By”, 130).
To say that the Holy Spirit will come visibly on the day of Pentecost does not
mean that he has not been active before: when the prophets of the Old Testa-
ment speak they are inspired by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Pet 1:21) and there are
countless passages in the New Testament where we are told that he is acting:
for example, he overshadows the Blessed Virgin at the Annunciation (cf. Lk
1:35); he moves Zechariah to prophesy the wonders of the Lord (cf. Lk 1:67-79),
and Simeon to proclaim that the Saviour of the world has come (cf. Lk 2:25-38).
But, asks St Augustine, “how are the words of the Evangelist to be understood:
“The Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus was not yet glorified’, if not in
the sense that, after the glorification of Christ, there would certainly be a giving
or sending of the Holy Spirit of such a kind as there had never been before?”
(”De Trinitate”, 4, 20). Our Lord was referring, therefore, to the coming of the
Holy Spirit after his ascension into heaven, an outpouring which St John sees
as symbolically anticipated when Christ’s side is pierced by a lance and blood
and water flow out (Jn 19:34). The Fathers saw in this the birth of the Church
and the sanctifying power of the sacraments, especially those of Baptism and
the Eucharist.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.