God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
Acts 15: 8-9
As we approach Halloween this year I was reminded of this story about St. Paul taking on a sorcerer.
Christ loses no time establishing the reality of the Kingdom in God. The early disciples become earthen vessels that Christ fills to the rim with His power. This is power born of Love. The Father and Son are no longer separated. Christ sits at the right hand of God and the inseparable connective Love has now been fully united with humanity. God lives and dwells in the hearts, souls and bodies of humans. There is no stopping the force of this Love in transforming the lives of people; turning them on their heads. The Spirit is truly fire that consumes the Earth.
Prayer is at the heart of becoming aware and sensitized to the Spirit and its ceaseless calls to action. Discerning the Spirit become a full time occupation of the early Christians. It is neither directive nor explicit – only embedded in the exigencies of events in constant flux and movement.
Attuning to the Holy Spirit becomes a community activity. The Spirit seems to work in concert more easily and apparently when two or more are gathered in the name of Christ. Whether it be walking and encountering a person in need….or receiving words of wisdom to defend the faith the Spirit heaps surprise after surprise on the Christ’s disciples and followers. If Christ will not be physically present in the ways He was during his historical walk on Earth or even in the ways He shared of Himself in the 40 days of Resurrection narratives He does seem to be keen to make sure His Kingship does not go unnoticed.
Chapter Thirteen of the Acts of the Apostles opens with the Holy Spirit acting like a GPS device honing in Paul and Barnabas and guiding their specific movements. Real-time discernment graced by Christ, enables Saul to recognize to a deceiver like the sorcerer Elymas:
But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
Acts 13: 8-12
Isn’t it ironic that Saul who had been made blind by the Lord is the same guy who is directed by Christ’s Spirit to blind Elymas. Saul is fired up to bring the Good News to the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas grow tired of the jealousy of the Jews and leave Antioch.
Paul and Barnabas are granted tremendous power in the Spirit to work signs in the name of the Lord. These signs cause as many converts as they do problems for the Paul and Barnabas. The Holy Spirit guides them to leave when the plots held in common by the Jews and Gentiles to stone them reached a crescendo of action.
The Holy Spirit and prayer play a pivotal role in actualizing Paul and Barnabas’s growing realization in establishing the primacy of Christ’s inheritance for all people and creatures.
In God, Christ works through human understanding and time to bring all Sheep through the Gate of His Way, Truth, and Life. Our God is unbelievably patient and humble. He will not lay down Law anymore. With Christ in us, He will work through our limited minds, hearts, and experiences to build, grow, evolve and nurture His Kingdom. Community prayer, sharing, discernment and gifts of the Spirit bring agreement to the Christian community about the universal nature of Christ’s message.
Can we continue today to place ourselves in this humble receptive place to be surprised, to be attentive and guided by Christ’s Love for the Father that creates an endless stream of new possibilities? Let it be so… Jesus we place our trust in you!
Consider sharing with us an example of how the Holy Spirit has recently moved in your life.
