Thursday 28 May 2020
Thursday of the 7th week of Eastertide
Spiritual Reading
Your Second Reading from the Office of Readings:
Thursday of the 7th week of Eastertide
From a commentary on the gospel of John by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop
If I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you
After Christ had completed his mission on earth, it still remained necessary for us to become sharers in the divine nature of the Word. We had to give up our own life and be so transformed that we would begin to live an entirely new kind of life that would be pleasing to God. This was something we could do only by sharing in the Holy Spirit.
It was most fitting that the sending of the Spirit and his descent upon us should take place after the departure of Christ our Saviour. As long as Christ was with them in the flesh, it must have seemed to believers that they possessed every blessing in him; but when the time came for him to ascend to his heavenly Father, it was necessary for him to be united through his Spirit to those who worshipped him, and to dwell in our hearts through faith. Only by his own presence within us in this way could he give us confidence to cry out, Abba, Father, make it easy for us to grow in holiness and, through our possession of the all-powerful Spirit, fortify us invincibly against the wiles of the devil and the assaults of men.
It can easily be shown from examples both in the Old Testament and the New that the Spirit changes those in whom he comes to dwell; he so transforms them that they begin to live a completely new kind of life. Saul was told by the prophet Samuel: The Spirit of the Lord will take possession of you, and you shall be changed into another man. Saint Paul writes: As we behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, that glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit, transforms us all into his own likeness, from one degree of glory to another.
Does this not show that the Spirit changes those in whom he comes to dwell and alters the whole pattern of their lives? With the Spirit within them it is quite natural for people who had been absorbed by the things of this world to become entirely other-worldly in outlook, and for cowards to become men of great courage. There can be no doubt that this is what happened to the disciples. The strength they received from the Spirit enabled them to hold firmly to the love of Christ, facing the violence of their persecutors unafraid. Very true, then, was our Saviour’s saying that it was to their advantage for him to return to heaven: his return was the time appointed for the descent of the Holy Spirit.
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In other parts of the world and other calendars:
Blessed Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, Martyr
Portrait of unknown sitter (c.1535), traditionally thought to be Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury. National Gallery, London.
From the Life of Cardinal Reginald Pole by his secretary, Luigi Beccatello
We have one more patron to intercede for us
This is how the Cardinal received the news of his mother’s death. He had received several letters from France, Spain and Flanders, and having read them, he called me, as his custom was, to return the answers. As I was putting them together I perceived one to be in English, and told him I need not take that with me, as I did not understand the language. To which he replied, with perfect equanimity, “I could wish you did, that you might read the good news it contains”; and on my replying, “I hope your Excellency will make me partaker of it”, “Hitherto”, he said, “I have thought myself indebted to the divine goodness for having received my birth from one of the most noble and virtuous women in England; but from henceforward my obligation will be much greater, for I understand that I am now the son of a martyr. May God be thanked and praised.” I was distressed at his news, but he consoled me; saying, “We must rejoice, because now we have one more patron, to intercede for us in Heaven.” He then retired to his oratory for the space of one hour, after which he emerged in his usual good spirits. It was not that he did not love his mother, for he always spoke of her with great affection, but rather that he was given the grace not to be sighed down by such sad news.
Copyright © 1996-2020 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.