Lk 4:14-22
What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit? It is for me to love as mentioned in ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.’ From here, one can gather that Christianity is all about sharing God’s Love. The Love is never meant for self. Our mission as Christians is to love. How do we love? We love by first loving God and love our neighbours as ourselves. Then, the Holy Spirit out of our love with God will guide us in our daily lives how to love others and get closer to God. All the gifts that we have are meant to be shared with others.
Sad to say that , at times, when I talk to people, some of us, including me, may focus too much on whether we go to hell or heaven, whether we are holy enough or not. Such focus is no longer on loving God and others but focusing too much on self. Christianity is no longer Christ centered but self centered. Holiness is not meant to attain in God with the community anymore in this case. Rather, it becomes a goal to achieve based on the effort of self without Love, just like how one fights to gain high position in the corporate world. The whole picture of Christianity is painted wrongly all together.
Everyone makes mistakes from time to time. The only way to get the perspective right with God is to spend more time with God through the Scriptures, Sacraments, Christian community, etc. God may speak to us through other people, sometimes, unknowingly even non Christians. Surprisingly, most of the time, I see Christ from non Christian friends where I experience true love from them without calculating or pretence. They allow me to be myself and yet they have the courage to correct me from time to time even though they know I am quick tempered and may take offence. I really appreciate them for who they are and their care and concern. This is how I experience God’s love and am constantly reminded that God is with and in me no matter where I go and I should never confine God within a church building or a mass. Mass is meant to continue in my daily life after I am dismissed from every mass in church. The world is the universal church where ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord’ with my gifts and to pass on the love that I have received from Christ through the people and sacraments with the others so that the Kingdom of God can continue to expand.
With Love,
Elena
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