Dear brothers and sisters,
the readings of today are preparation for the Pentecost Sunday. We could see
the work of the Holy Spirit in all the readings of the day. In the first
reading, Philip is preaching in the city of Samaria. Upon hearing his preaching the evil spirits
run away. This is the greatest sign that there is no place for sin and evil in
the presence of the Holy Spirit. Peter and John are sent to Samaria to invoke
the Holy Spirit on the new converts. Philip as a deacon could only baptise the
people. He has no power to perform the rite of confirmation. Only the apostles,
who are the bishops of that time could perform the sacrament of confirmation.
This is the basis for today’s practice of administering confirmation by the bishops
in the church. Philip also performs miracles in the city of Samaria. In every
land, the initial proclamation is assisted by physical healing and exorcism.
This external sign is a confirmation from the divine that the message of the
evangelizers are true. In the post baptismal life, the external signs are very
rare. This shows that the signs are pointers to the faith. We are recipient of
the message, not the miracle. Those who seek religion or God for the sake of
miracle are superstitious believers. Our Christian faith is not superstitious.
Our faith is intelligible. As humans we have the capacity to know the divine to
certain extent. God, the creator of human beings desires that we use our
intellectual powers to grasp Him. Thus, God respects our capabilities and
possibilities.
The second reading urges
that we possess sufficient reason for our faith (1 Pet 3:15). St. Peter, the
uneducated and country fisher man insists the believers to comprehend the faith
intellectually. One’s defense for the faith should proceed from reason to devotions.
We practice devotions to grow in holiness and attain spiritual perfection but
intellectual grasping is very much needed to hold firm in faith. Of course,
there are some Christians in every corner of the world who are happy with mere faith
without any reasoning. They are simple people. They are not wrong in having
such a faith. They are most appreciated for accepting our faith without any
enquiry. Through this attitude they express total trust in the Lord. The intellectual
enquiry is insisted to facilitate the Christian living. Every civilization and
development proceeds from education of the people. Similarly, deepening of Christian
living and conviction of Christian doctrine proceed from the education to
faith.
St. Peter asks us to do the reasoning
of our faith with charity and gentleness (1 Pet 3:15). We present our faith,
never force on anyone. We explicate our hope, never water down other religious
traditions. We celebrate our love, never limit this celebration to ourselves. Actually,
what St. Peter urges us is; to have
sufficient reason for the hope we have. With regard to afterlife, we only
have the promise. We haven’t seen either heaven or hell. Thus, it is worth
researching on the content of our faith. If today Christians have rich theology
and sound catechism it is because of the intellectual pursuit of the fathers of
the church. The primitive church was open to debate, research, dialogue and
revise. Intellectual enquiry added more authenticity to our faith. St. Peter tells
the Christians to proclaim the Gospel through their deeds. The gospel of Jesus
is to accept injustice patiently and defeat hatred with love. Following this,
peter asks the followers of Jesus to keep their conscience pure. The
persecutors should be punished with shame that they could only make false
allegations against Christians. Let them not persecute us for our sins, rather
let them persecute us through their malice. In allowing this to happen, we gain
the opportunity to practice the virtue of forgiveness which has the potency to
convert the persecutors.
The gospel of the day is to
love the commandment. Love is done in freedom. Thus, we need to obey the commandment
of Christ with love. The gospel is very clear that only those who love keep the
commandments. Those who keep the commandments need not be lovers of Jesus. They
may do so out of fear of hell. Such devotions to faith is not worth. One can keep
the commandments of Jesus with love if only s/he has knowledge of Christian faith.
We can love the person fully if only we know something about that person. In the
same way, we can love Jesus and follow His commandments if only we have some knowledge
about Him. Thus, St. Peter is right in saying that we possess knowledge about
our faith. For this Holy Spirit is the guide. May He assist us in our striving
to know Christ more and more.
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