Proverbs 8:22-31 Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15
No sooner had Christianity begun to spread throughout the then- known world than the controversies began! Exactly how does Jesus relate to the God that he called ‘Abba’? Was Jesus an adopted son? Was Jesus a divine being only pretending to be human?. And what about the Holy Spirit? How does the Spirit Jesus spoke about fit in ? Theologians on every side, bishops, even popes unable to agree, challenging each other, sometimes even imprisoning or exiling those with a different opinion.
And we, at every mass, pray the Creed as if it has always been a “done deal”! There are three persons in one God. We have no facile answer for the question “How”? We have made our peace with mystery. We no longer fight one another over different understandings and explanations of the nature of our triune God. We accept that God is a mystery we will never be able to wrap our minds around.
The thing about mystery is that, unlike a puzzle, which has a solution, a mystery keeps unfolding, leading us ever deeper. So when Jesus promises in today's gospel that the Spirit will guide us to truth, we accept a process, development.
For instance, when I was a child the church spoke about our relationship to creation as “dominion. “ Now the church uses the word “stewardship”, a subtle but significant development. Creation we have learned is not ours to use, but ours to care for.
Growth, change is to be expected, inevitable, in fact, when we stand before the mystery of God. This is true for the Christian community as a whole and for us individually.
It might be interesting to reflect upon your own growth and development as the Holy Spirit has led you to think about God differently, to pray differently over a lifetime.
To what changes have you been led? Are you open to the possibility that more changes, more development may lie ahead? That the God who loves you and seeks to be known by you isn't done with you yet?
by: Pat Schnee
Comments