the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.
But whoever denies me before others
will be denied before the angels of God.
"Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,
but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will not be forgiven.
When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities,
do not worry about how or what your defense will be
or about what you are to say.
For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say."
REFLECTION
St Pope Gregory the Great once said in a homily that Jesus "sometimes gives us instruction by words and sometimes by actions. His very deeds are our commands; and whenever He acts silently He is teaching us what we should do." St Gregory teaches us that whoever fails in charity towards his neighbor should by no means take upon himself the office of preaching. Preaching for God prepares the way and when the words have established truth in our minds, the Lord comes to live within us. He illumines us with His love.
PAPA prays for our priests to personally be zealous, faithful and to work for the Lord worthily, their homilies and words to reach the ears and minds of all, and not to tire of their work and mission: Not to succumb to lack of charity. The Holy Spirit is there at the moment that He is needed and will inspire. We pray that the work of the Holy Spirit will not be impeded. Pray that the priest will have love for his neighbor, love for sinners and love of God.
But we who pray for priests, are we charitable to our neighbor? Will the Holy Spirit be able to work in us? Any work we do needs the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we share in divine life. Pray for one another and let the Holy Spirit work. At the end of the day, we should ask ourselves--how did I treat my neighbor, did I gossip, did I intentionally leave them out, did I forget they have problems, did I treat them with love and the way I want to be treated, did I pray for and with them? We have prayer partners as we pray for our priests. Do we contact them, find out how they are doing? Do we call the families of our deceased members?
Have you ever wondered why Jesus sent out His disciples two by two? Imagine the added impact of working and praying together for a shared goal and filling our efforts with the Holy Spirit.
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