Wednesday of the
Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Romans 8:26-30; Luke 13:22-30)
Franciscan Fr. Richard Rohr has become a spiritual master
in the Catholic Church. Respected as a
young priest, he speaks with authority as an old one. Fr. Rohr finds the two halves of life calling
forth different responses. In the first
half people must learn how to stop their egos from running wild. Then need laws so that they may tolerate one
another. By the second half of life most
have learned some self-control. Yet if
they are to develop fully, they need to be transformed into gentle, caring
subjects. Their base instincts and,
often enough, culture as well work against this goal. To transcend these obstacles Rohr sees the Holy
Spirit at work. In today’s first reading
St. Paul writes to the Romans of the Spirit’s work.
Paul says that the Spirit intercedes on behalf of
believers. It asks for what the heart
does not even know it needs. The heart
wants solutions to the challenges confronting it. But the Spirit knows that what is essential
is not domination. More critical is
compliance to the will of God the Father.
Humans may pray for insight and strength, but the Spirit prays for wisdom
and docility.
The human project, which each of us faces, is an enormous
task. Simply put, it is to become a
saint. We are hindered all along the way
to holiness. Fortunately, we have the
Spirit praying within us for the grace to reach our goal.
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