Tuesday of the
Sixth Week of Easter
(Acts 16:22-34; John 16:5-11)
Some wonder why the Church does not use the word ghost in referring to the third person
of the Holy Trinity. A hundred years ago
it was used in the standard translation of the Latin Spiritus Sanctus. Now the translation is made almost exclusively by
Holy Spirit. Ghost
and spirit have very similar original
meanings – vigor, breath, soul, etc. In
recent times, however, ghost has become
more associated with the disembodied soul of a dead person or a demonic
being. Spirit, on the other hand, retains the fuller range of meanings
that are helpful in understanding today’s readings.
The earthquake freeing St. Paul and Silas should not be
thought of as a random act of nature. It
clearly represents the work of the Holy Spirit.
The same Spirit is said to have filled the disciples as they prayed and
the earth shook earlier in Acts (4:31).
Jesus promises to send the Spirit in today’s gospel with earth-shaking
results. The Spirit will show the world
wrong on three counts. The world refuses
believe in God’s Son. It fails to see
that the Son practiced true righteousness. And it does not notice that the real
enemy, the devil, is now cast out, at least for those associated with Jesus.
We all need help to live in the world with a modicum of
peace. The help we need above all, however, is the
grace of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit
fills us with a sense of gratitude for all God has done for us. More than that, the Spirit moves us to love
others with acts of kindness. The Spirit
shakes our foundations to think less of ourselves and more of God.
