Thursday

Acts 5: 27-33

Psalm 34

John 3: 31-36

John the Baptist continues his testimony of Jesus in today’s gospel.  In his testimony, John declares three things: 1) Jesus is from above, He is not of this world but has made Himself a part of the world; 2) because Jesus comes from above, He has authority to speak of the things of above and in particular, the Father; and 3) Jesus is tied to the Father by the love of the Holy Spirit.  John the Baptist then goes on to declare that those of us who keep those things in mind, when we believe that those things are unquestionably true, when we believe that Jesus is the Truth, everything in our lives remain in proper order.

We see in our first reading what a life in proper order looks like.  Today’s first reading is a continuation of the challenges the Apostles were having with the Sadducees.  The events of this challenge that ended up with the Apostles being put in jail – but that did not deter them from preaching about Jesus.  So how is it that these Apostles went from hiding at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, to being bold enough to speak against the Sanhedrin?  The answer lies in the powerful love of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is absolutely incredible in the love He wants to share with us by the means of the gifts He shares: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, Fear of God (i.e. filial reverence).  Think about it.  Just like any other gift offered to us, it is nothing but stuff in a box if we never use it. C’mon, which of those gifts would you NOT want?  When we get really good at incorporating those things into our lives, our lives become incredible! 

So how do we use the gifts in our lives?  Three simple, but maybe not easy, methods: 1) Put your ego off to the side.  It all starts here, without that, the gifts stay in a box regardless of how much you do with the other steps; 2) Make your entire day a relationship with God by Praying, especially for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and praying the Rosary; 3)  Learn the lives of the saints and then go be like them and sacrifice for others.

Smile at God today, because He sure is smiling at you!  It is going to be a great day…and I will have a great day especially if someone volunteers to pay my taxes for me!