both “in spirit and truth” (jn 4:24)
“When He comes, however, being the Spirit of truth He will guide you to all truth.” —John 16:13
Many say, “I’m not religious, but I am a spiritual person.” Jesus says in today’s Gospel that the Holy Spirit will guide us to all truth (Jn 16:13). He says that “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit” (Jn 4:24). Indeed, being a spiritual person is an integral part of worshipping God.
However, many who are involved in New Age rituals are also spiritual persons. Even the evil spirits, who are spiritual beings, believe in God “and shudder” (Jas 2:19). Thus we must not only worship God in spirit; we must also worship Him in truth (Jn 4:24). Satan is a spirit, but an evil spirit. Satan “has never based himself on truth; the truth is not in him. Lying speech is his native tongue; he is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44).
This is the danger of living as a spiritual person without the safeguard of the truth. Satan, who operates in the spiritual world, is “prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pt 5:8). Spiritual people who do not remain within the truth are particularly vulnerable to being devoured by Satan’s lies.
It is in the Holy Spirit that we can worship God both in Spirit and in truth. The Spirit has done this through the revelation in Scripture and in magisterial Church teaching, particularly through the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The truth of divine revelation means that worshipping in Spirit (Jn 4:24) has guardrails, that is, the safe boundaries of truth. The Holy Spirit is Truth (Jn 16:13). So, search for the truth and search for the Holy Spirit. Worship God in Spirit and truth (Jn 4:24).
Prayer: Father, help me to follow the Spirit’s lead (Gal 5:25) to the Church, the “pillar and bulwark of truth” (1 Tm 3:15).
Promise: “In Him we live and move and have our being.”—Acts 17:28
Praise: “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love Thee!”
Reference: (This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)
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