In today’s gospel Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit who will teach us everything and remind us of what Jesus told us.

We often do not have a good picture of the Holy Spirit and to be honest, outside of the confirmation and the Charismatic Renewal, we often hear little of the Holy Spirit outside of Him being the third person of the Holy Trinity.

However, when we look at Jesus’ words, we see the Holy Spirit as both our teacher and the one who reminds us of all that Jesus tells us.

In short, what this means Jesus is to the disciples before his resurrection what the Holy Spirit is to the Church after the resurrection and that means each individual member.

The Holy Spirit is often portrayed or described not only as a dove, but in the Old Testament as wisdom and so through the Holy Spirit we learn the wisdom of God. This is a wisdom that Isaiah portrays God as telling us as being above our ways and thoughts. It is a wisdom that educates us to see the world in a whole different way than those who do not care to know Christ.

When we look at the Apostles and the teachings in the gospels and the New Testament we see Jesus’ wisdom come alive.

Let me give you an example: Everything that we learn that is beyond simple human reason, can be ascribed to our relationship with Christ. Why is it that the Apostles and the disciples understood the profound wisdom in Jesus’ teachings while the pharisees and saduccees did not. After all it was the latter who were the educated in the Torah and the Talmud, it was the former who were not educated at all. The answer can be found in former’s their openness to the grace of God and to the action of the Holy Spirit in their lives and the reality that the latter closed themselves off from the grace of God.

This will explain another reality. Why is it that we live in a world that rejects our faith and the traditions of our teaching. They reject the grace of the Holy Spirit. But what this means is that the wisdom that we receive from our relationship with God is beyond them. It is like the electrician who looks at a resistor and can tell you automatically how many ohms it has. While someone not educated in electricity would look upon the colored bands as decorations. They mean nothing to him or her. He can see the resistor, he can know what it does, he can understand the basic principles, but there is a limit to what he can know, yet the electrician can tell him so much more. Even if that person has a doctorate in world government for example, he cannot tell you what the resistor value is and when it can be used. So it is with those of us who are inspired by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. When we listen and as Jesus says, allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and inspire us, we grow in our ability to understand ourselves, our world and our relationship to our God. When we turn from the Holy Spirit all this becomes severely limited. The problem is that such people cannot tell they are limited in their ability to know God. So they consider themselves all wise, when others look upon them differently.

Let me give you a better example: Look at the television show Survivor. There is one player on that show who prides himself on his ability to control the game and control other players. However, the viewers notice he has a major flaw. His ego is so great that yes he does have the confidence to control the game, but for the same reason he is blind to his own vulnerabilities. Others can see it, he can not. He is wise in his own estimation, and that all say will be his downfall. His wisdom is limited and he is blind to that truth.

If we look at the teachings of St. Paul we can see him actively describing this process. Romans 12 where he calls for his readers to allow for the renewal of their minds, to allow them to be transformed so that they may see and understand what those who reject God can never do.

Also in Romans 1:24 where Paul reminds us that those who turn from God experience a deformation of their minds the opposite of what we see in Romans 12. It is in a sense a removal of wisdom that affects how they see themselves and the world. The issue is that they do not understand that this is the case. They cannot see the truth because they have rejected the source of truth. Therefore, what they assume to be truth is their truth.

An example of this would be the case of the man who grew up in a cave and would not only have no understanding of the world outside, he would not believe it existed and so his truth would be that there is no sun and there is not outside world, even though it is a false understanding. If he rejected you teaching him that he is wrong, then his truth would be a false truth. However, you would be incapable of convincing him otherwise.

Remember the words of Jesus that what is hidden from the learned and the clever is revealed to the merest children. Do you think the learned and the clever would be capable of learning wisdom from the merest children? Their pride would cripple them from learning this truth. So they would consider themselves learned and clever, but they would not have wisdom to grow beyond that. Jesus reminds us to beware of those who are wise in their own estimation. They are in capable of learning true wisdom because they are filled with the false wisdom that drives their lives.

Yet, when we listen to the Holy Spirit, we learn what others cannot.

There are many people who mock what we believe and laugh that we are believers. That is because they are incapable of understanding what we believe and are not able to open themselves to the truth that reveals itself in Christ.

They cannot allow themselves to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. So they go through lives laughing at others, hating our morals and mocking our religious practices because to them it is foolishness. Yet, in wisdom we can see our truth where they cannot.

What is the difference between a religious radical terrorist who seeks to blow up innocent people in New York City, an atheist who tries to illegalize all forms of religion and and a wise disciple of Jesus who says, I will wait upon the Lord even when rejected by the learned. It is the latter who acts upon divine wisdom while both of the former act on misguided forms of humans wisdom. The religious radical acts on his passion and becomes enslaved by it. The atheist acts upon his uninspired reason and becomes blinded by it. You and I are subject to the same pressures, if we do not allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit. Yet, when we humble ourselves before God and allow Him to inspire us, then we learn the truth and act accordingly.

For the next two weeks take this time to pray that the Lord will inspire you and that the Holy Spirit will lead you now, into Pentecost and forever.

God bless you,

Fr. Robert J. Carr

Father Carr is an Alliance Member of The New Song Community (Canção Nova), the Pastor of St. Benedict Parish in Somerville, MA and the editor of this blog.

Photocredits: All Bigstockphoto.com

Top: Kimmit
Top Middle: simKS
Bottom Middle: gatorl
Bottom: lansera