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Monday, August 31, 1998

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1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Psalm 119:97-102
Luke 4:16-30

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the year of the holy spirit

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; therefore He has anointed Me." —Luke 4:18

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Jesus, and He wants to lavish the Spirit on us (Ti 3:6) in an unrationed way (Jn 3:34). However, to receive the Spirit and grow in the Spirit, we must repent. At the first Christian Pentecost, Peter proclaimed: "You must repent and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, that your sins may be forgiven; then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38, our transl).

The people of Jesus' home town, Nazareth, missed the opportunity to receive the Spirit by refusing to repent of not accepting Him (see Lk 4:24ff). The Corinthians had received every gift of the Spirit (1 Cor 1:7), but they did not grow in the Spirit because they refused to continue to repent more and more deeply. They remained infants in Christ (1 Cor 3:1). Life in the Spirit, and continued, deeper life in the Spirit are based on deeper repentance.

As the Church prepares for the year 2000, the Great Jubilee, we celebrate the year of the Holy Spirit. Pope John Paul II has proclaimed: "The Church cannot prepare for the new millennium 'in any other way than in the Holy Spirit' " (Towards The New Millennium, 44). Make this year of the Holy Spirit life-changing and world-renewing. Repent and receive the Holy Spirit anew. Then let the Holy Spirit convict you of sin (Jn 16:8), lead you to deeper repentance, and fill you as never before.

Prayer:  Father, through Jesus make this year of the Holy Spirit true to its name.

Promise:  "My message and my preaching had none of the persuasive force of 'wise' argumentation, but the convincing power of the Spirit." —1 Cor 2:4

Praise:  Belinda had a tubal ligation. Years later, she repented and expressed it by adopting a baby girl.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert J. Buschmiller, February 17, 1998


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, March 25, 1998