Monday of 7th Week of Easter: reflection

Theme: Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

Reading: Acts 19:1–8

Dear friends in Christ, the question St Paul asked the disciples he found in Ephesus, as recorded in today’s first reading, who had been converted and taught about Christ by Apollos, continues to beg for answers from Christians today. The question is simple, but its answer requires a thorough examination of one’s life. He asked if they had received the Holy Spirit and, in all honesty, they said no.

In Gal 5:19–22, St Paul listed the fruits of the Holy Spirit as prudence, love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control. Then, the fruits of a life devoid of the presence of the Holy Spirit were listed as immorality, indecent actions, idolatry, witchcraft, enmity, lies, jealousy, anger, ambitiousness, division, envy, drunkenness, and orgies.

When we compare the fruits of the Holy Spirit to the fruits that many Christians bear in our society, we can’t help but wonder if we truly received the Holy Spirit the day our bishops laid hands on us, or if the Holy Spirit we received is still active in our lives.

Which fruits stand out in your life? Fruits of a life controlled by the Holy Spirit or those of a life devoid of the Holy Spirit? A closer look at how things are in our world will reveal that one of the reasons our world has become a theatre of evil is that people whose lives manifest the fruits of a life devoid of the presence of the Holy Spirit are greater in number, even in our Christian communities. Therefore, it makes sense to ask this important question again: have you received the Holy Spirit?

We are in the week of Novena to the Holy Spirit. Let us open ourselves through prayers and invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, so that His fire will burn away the evil fruits in us and, then, revive His own fruits that are lying dormant in our lives. When this happens, our world will be a beautiful home.

May the Holy Spirit guide and direct you as you embark on this Week’s activities. Amen.

Fr. Isaac C. Chima