REFLECTIONS TODAY

Jesus assures his disciples that if they must stand trial for their faith before Jewish or pagan courts, the Holy Spirit will provide for their defense.
The Spirit is the Paraclete sent by Jesus, the advocate, the helper, the “Spirit of truth” bearing witness to Jesus (Jn 15:26).
In their hour of trial, the disciples are guaranteed the support of the Holy Spirit.
This, in fact, will be the experience of the believers after Pentecost, as told by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter, in the name of the Apostles, boldly addresses the Sanhedrin and proclaims that Jesus is “the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone” and that “there is no salvation through anyone else” (Acts 4:11-12).
Stephen accuses the Sanhedrin of opposing the Holy Spirit, receiving the law as transmitted by angels, but did not observe it.
Condemned to be stoned, but being filled with the Spirit, he looks up intensely to heaven and sees the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:51, 55).
In his turn, Paul the Apostle confesses, “My message and my proclamation were not with persuasive [words of] wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power” (1 Cor 2:4).
First Reading • Rom 4:13, 16-18
Brothers and sisters: It was not through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness that comes from faith.
For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us, as it is written, I have made you father of many nations.
He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist.
He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become the father of many nations, according to what was said, Thus shall your descendants be.
Gospel • Luke 12:8-12
Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others 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.”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2023,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.