Homily for May 9, 2018.
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the
truth.” John 16:13.
Today, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth.
As the Spirit of Truth, He not only witnesses to us, he also leads us to find
and discover every truth. The Holy Spirit teaches us things that are beyond the
mere understanding and grasp of our human mind. The Holy Spirit inspires truth
in us.
We live in a world where people are loved for telling lies and
hated for speaking the truth. The spirit of lies is one demon that has
possessed such a vast majority of our population both old and young, rich and
poor alike. The simple reason why we fall too easily into the lie-trap is that
we do not realize the seriousness of the existence of lies in our lives.
If the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, it follows that
telling of lies is a sign of his absence in our lives. No wonder the popular
saying goes thus: “Say the truth and shame the devil.” When we tell lies we
actually glorify the devil. When we spread falsehood deliberately just to
incite others or achieve mundane objectives, we are only making the devil’s
work easier.
Jesus tells us: “He (the Holy Spirit) will glorify me, for he
will take what is mine and declare it you.” John 16:14. Truly, we give glory to
God when we speak the truth and act accordingly being led by the power of the
Holy Spirit. Dear friends, we cannot claim to have God in us and be liars at
the same time. Anyone who lies lacks the Spirit of Truth – the Holy Spirit.
Another sign of the absence of the Holy Spirit in us is
resistance to the truth. When we find ourselves fighting people simply because
they tell us the truth, we should realize we have distanced ourselves from God.
At times, we shut people down, we even go as far as planning
assassinations, we destroy people’s character and so on all to prevent the
truth from being exposed to light.
The Athenians did not grant audience to Paul because they
couldn’t face the truth. They acknowledged their ignorance by making an Altar
with the inscription: “To An unknown god,” but when Paul tried to clear their
ignorance, they resisted him. Truly, there are some people who know they are
ignorant yet they remain satisfied in their ignorance.
The Athenians did not believe in the resurrection and they
closed their minds to the possibility of this truth. They cut Paul short the
moment he mentioned the issue of rising from the dead. Basically, the Athenians
resisted the Holy Spirit.
There are times we hide the truth and try to make the world
believe lies but then I have come to realize the truth is too powerful to be
hidden. The world may believe lies for a while but one day, like a volcanic
eruption, the truth will force itself out. It is better to suffer now for being
truthful than for people to curse your dead body because of the lies you told.
If we have the Holy Spirit in us, we would not lie!
Let us pray: Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and enkindle in
us your Sacred Fire. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God
bless you. (Wednesday of the 6th week of Easter. Bible Study: Acts 17:15-18:1
and John 16:12-15).
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