It makes you wonder why Saint Paul was declared a saint, after you read his words in today’s first reading for Mass today. “O stupid Galatians! … Are you so stupid?” Pope Francis is probably cringing a bit inside while these words are read at Mass today. He sent a tweet out in the past that said: “Let us ask the Lord for the grace not to speak badly of others, not to criticize, not to gossip, but rather to love everyone.”
That is an ideal that even Saint Paul had trouble living up to. The pope is right of course, but we do not always live up the highest standard of Christian behavior, that’s for sure. We strive for perfection in all that we do, but we always fall a little short of it. And yet, this is exactly the way it should be. Jesus is more perfect than we are, and it is a good thing that He is the only perfect person that has ever lived. What would we need God’s grace for if we were already perfect? That is really what today’s readings for Mass is all about. God’s grace that is bestowed upon us, through the action of the Holy Spirit.
Saint Paul also makes a really good point about the true nature of the Holy Spirit, toward the end of the first reading from the book of Galatians:
“Does, then, the one who supplies the Spirit to you and works mighty deeds among you do so from works of the law or from faith in what you heard?”
And this verse ties right on into the last verse of today’s gospel:
“If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
The entire gospel today is about prayer. About persistence in prayer and also about asking God for what you need. God isn’t a vending machine though, that you can put in a lot of time and effort requesting things from Him and expect that you will receive it, just because of your efforts. It just doesn’t work that way.
Have you ever heard the expression, “Thank God for unanswered prayers?” Sometimes we ask for things that are not right for us, or those we love. How do we know what is right? We can only see the present moment. God sees well into the future and knows how everything will turn out, so He ignores our prayers sometimes for our own good. It could be that He has something even better in mind for us!
It is also tragic when illness and death occurs though. We tend to pray heavily to God during these times and things do not always turn out the way that we would like them to. There are reasons behind these things too though, that we are unaware of.
We were put here on this earth to love, honor and serve God. Each of us has a mission, a purpose for living. We may not even recognize what it is until we reach heaven. Our mission, or our purpose in life, may be accomplished quickly like a flash of light, or slowly like a long burning ember.
One last thought about the gospel today. Jesus said, “How much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” If we pray for something, more often than not, God answers our prayers through us. He simply makes us aware of what to do, through grace, which is an action of the Holy Spirit. We may pray a lot about a situation, even for a long time, and then suddenly in a moment of inspiration, the Holy Spirit will reveal to you, the solution to your problem. It is a knowledge that we do not have on our own. It comes out of nowhere, like a light bulb that is suddenly turned on, and then everything makes sense. It all falls into place. The solution was right there in front of you the whole time, but you did not recognize it. It took God’s grace to reveal this to you. (This is called actual grace by the way.)
How do you know if a particular revelation from the Holy Spirit is real? If it is a genuine gift of grace it will bring a deep down sense of peace, and certainty. Grace will settle deeply into your soul and heal it. This is the two clear indicators of a gift of actual grace from God. Also, the Holy Spirit will never upset you, cause division, make you question yourself, or try to lead you to believe something, or do something that is contrary to the gospel or Catholic teaching. You also will never hear the Holy Spirit speak audibly. When he speaks, it is more of a sharing of knowledge or insight that you did not have before.
We do need to be careful what we pray for though, because we might just get it and then it turn out not to be the blessing in our lives that we thought it would be. This is also God’s way of teaching us that He really does know what is best for us, in the long run.
Daily Mass Readings: Galatians 3: 1-5 / Luke 1: 69-75 / Luke 11: 5-13
NOTE TO OUR READERS: Mary Ortwien usually writes the Thursday reflection for A Catholic Moment, but her home recently burned down. Her family is safe, but she lost her home and just about everything in it. Would you please remember Mary in your prayers during the coming weeks?
