First Reading - Acts 14:5-18
Gospel - John 14:21-26
The first reading narrates, how Paul and Barnabas lead people to become an abiding presence of God. Paul performs a miracle by curing the cripple that gets Paul and Barnabas attached with the divine titles. However, they correct the people and try to lead people to recognise the true God. Nevertheless, the blindness of faith of people prevents them to recognise the true God. They are carried away by idol worship rather than stepping forward to recognise the true God.
In the gospel, Jesus promises the abiding presence of the Holy Trinity in his disciples who express their responsive love for him by keeping his commandments, especially his commandment of love, because only this type of loving will open them and make them receptive to the Divine Indwelling of the Trinitarian God. Jesus is referring to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the soul renewed by grace. God repeatedly revealed Himself in the Old Testament and promised to dwell in the midst of His people ( Ex 29:45; Ez 37:26-27; etc.). But here Jesus speaks of the presence of God in each person. We are each a part of the Divine chain of love. God loves man. He sent His Son to prove it. After Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension, God the Father continues to live in us with His Son and the Holy Spirit. This abiding God gives us the Father’s protection and providence, the Son’s redemption and forgiveness of sins, and the Holy Spirit’s sanctification and guidance.
Dear friends, the best sign of God's presence in our lives is our life itself. The life of love radiates the kind of presence God finds in us. The presence of God is manifested in our discovery of God in our lives. It is to say, if we are devoid of God's discovery, we will never keep the commandment of God but the person who has discovered God will always keep the commandment of God as the disciples of Jesus. Let's discover Jesus in our faith first and we will certainly keep the commandment of him in every situation. However, the first reading reminds us that blind faith leads us to the exaggeration of faith like the people mentioned there but the true faith recognises the falsehood and truthfulness of faith. Therefore, blindness of faith should be ruled out in order to grow in true faith in God and His presence in our lives.
Let us live in constant awareness of the abiding presence of the Trinitarian God within us and behave well in His presence. During moments of doubts and temptations, let us seek the active guidance and strengthening of our indwelling God.
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