As we approach Christmas, our attention focuses on the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as the child of Bethlehem. As we listen to the Gospels, which tell us of the teaching of Saint John the Baptist, and as we hear again the story of the visit of Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary, our attention is concentrated on the coming of Christ. Today, our first reading from Isaiah, and the teaching given us by Pope Francis, remind us very powerfully of the importance of the Holy Spirit in the conception of our Lord, and his first recognition. The Angel Gabriel tells the Blessed Virgin that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her, and so she will become the mother of the Son of God. When the Blessed Virgin visits St Elizabeth, the Holy Spirit comes upon St John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb to allow him to recognise the arrival of his Lord in the womb of the Blessed Virgin.
Our First Reading began with the proclamation of the prophet Isaiah. 'The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor.' This, of course, is the text which our Lord himself chose as the reading in the synagogue at Nazareth at the very start of his ministry. He applied it directly to himself as the one anointed by the Holy Spirit. This he had experienced at his baptism by St John in the river Jordan, when the Spirit descended on him in the bodily form of a dove. At the end of his life, just before his death on the cross, our Lord promises his disciples will themselves receive the Holy Spirit. This promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, when the whole community of Christian believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, to give them power to witness to the truth of the gospel, and to live the life of love. In his teaching, the Pope tells us that we are 'guests and pilgrims in the mystery of the Trinity. … It is because the Holy Spirit dwells in us; he is the one who transforms us deep within, and makes us experience the soul-stirring joy of being loved by God as his true children. All the spiritual work within us towards God is performed by the Holy Spirit.' Here the Pope is very clear that our Christian pilgrimage which is the whole of our Christian life, is guided and inspired by the Spirit. On that pilgrimage, we are transformed to make us fully like the children of God. At the same time, the Holy Spirit works in us, just as he did in the first apostles and disciples, that we may be effective witnesses to the gospel, and to the truth which Christ has revealed to us. By the Holy Spirit praying in us, we are filled with the power of God himself. The Pope has a wonderful picture of how this works: 'We are open books, willing to receive the Spirit's handwriting. And in each of us, the spirit composes original works, because there is never a Christian, who is completely identical to another. All are equal in dignity, but also unique in the beauty that the Spirit has willed to fill each one of us with.' So, this brings us back to the vision of Isaiah, 'The Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor.’ We, in our generation, are to bring that same good news to all those who are poor – not simply those who are poor in material things, but even more importantly, and more widely, to those who are poor in spiritual things. That is why the prophet continues, 'He has sent me to bind up hearts that are broken, to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison; to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord.’ All these are deeply practical and deeply important. Ministries, which the Spirit gives us the power to fulfil. All of them are central to mission. All of them are central to attracting those who do not know the Lord to come into his presence, and rejoice in his family. May the Spirit of God so fill our prayer that we may truly and faithfully be witnesses to the Gospel of Christ. Immaculate Heart of Mary & St Dominic, Homerton Advent iii {B} 17.xii.23
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