Below is a reflection on the reading for Thursday on the Third Week of Eastertide.
Acts of the Apostles 8:26-40
In today’s first reading we hear about Philip and the conversion of the eunuch who was the chief treasurer to the Queen of Ethiopia. Now this is not Philip the Apostle but Philip the deacon also known as Philip the evangelist because of the fruitfulness of his preaching. In Acts 6:5 we read of his calling along with six others to the ministry of diaconate. He was the first to preach in Samaria and on his way to preach in Gaza he is directed by the Holy Spirit to delay his approach there and spend some time with this eunuch who needs assistance in understanding the prophecy from Isaiah about the suffering servant, Christ.
Whenever you read or listen to the Acts of the Apostles you never fail to be blown away with the relationship that the apostles and disciples had with the Holy Spirit. They have an acute awareness of him, they know and recognise his gentle voice, his inspirations, his counsel and respond faithfully to his promptings. Because Philip obeys the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the eunuch is baptised and with his new found faith returns to Ethiopia where he too can bring the Good News.
The Holy Spirit has a plan and that plan includes us too. Like Philip the deacon may he find in us a willing recipient of the graces and instructions that he wants us to carry out, so that our lives may advance the kingdom of God.
“We can study the whole history of salvation, we can study the whole of theology, but without the Spirit we cannot understand. It is the Spirit that makes us realize the truth or in the words of Our Lord, it is the Spirit that makes us know the voice of Jesus.”
Pope Francis
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Come O Holy Spirit, come swiftly into our hearts. Come as our welcome guest and fill us with your life. Release anew those gifts of yours awakening me from my spiritual slumber.Teach us how to recognise more readily your gentle voice and to know how to distinguish that above all other voices. May your tongues of fire enlighten and embolden me, so that I too may set the world alight with the fire of your love and the fire of your truth. Amen.
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