{"id":1168,"date":"2019-11-14T12:16:19","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T17:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=1168"},"modified":"2019-11-22T12:20:58","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T17:20:58","slug":"1168","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/?p=1168","title":{"rendered":"The Wisdom of God is the Spirit!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thursday of the 32nd<\/sup>\nWeek in Ordinary Time<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Wis 7: 22b-8:1,Luke\n17: 20-25<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Deacon Larry\nBrockman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people say that the Holy Spirit is not in the Old Testament.  But today we hear more about the nature of\nthe Holy Spirit than in any place else in the Bible.  We hear about an \u201cintelligent, holy, unique,\nmanifold, subtle, agile, and clear\u201d spirit. \nIsn\u2019t that just magnificent!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the author goes on and on with other attributes as well.    We would all do well to read and reread\nthis first reading.  It would greatly\nassist all of us in understanding when we are influenced by the Holy Spirit as\nopposed to other spirits which are constantly attacking us, suggesting how we\ncan feed our desires and self rather than get close to God.  Daily we are accosted by these evil spirits\nwho urge us in various ways.  They tell\nus; \u201cIf it feels good, do it\u201d; \u201cWhat about something just for me\u201d; and \u201cDon\u2019t\nbe bothered by that\u201d when our conscience haunts us.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Wisdom that the Holy Spirit infuses in us helps us to\nbe in harmony with God.  And harmony with\nGod brings joy, an everlasting joy.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now this reading is paired with Jesus\u2019 answer to the\nPharisees on the Kingdom of God.  Jesus\nhas been talking about the Kingdom of God as he journeyed through Galilee and\nJudea.  But the audience didn\u2019t get it   Even after all the parables on the Kingdom of\nGod, parables we have been hearing for the last several weeks, they just didn\u2019t\nget it. The Pharisees didn\u2019t get it either. \nThey all just didn\u2019t get it.  I\u2019m\nnot sure we all get it.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Jesus tries again. \nHe says \u201cThe Kingdom of God is not something you can see\u201d; and \u201cThe\nKingdom of God is amongst us\u201d.  How can\nboth of these be true?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, we live in a world that is shared by the people of\nGod and the people of this world.  The\ntwo factions don\u2019t live in harmony but are in constant friction.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some, life is all about themselves; it\u2019s all about\ngetting whatever satisfaction they can out of this world while life lasts.  These people are inspired by the spirit of evil\nthat rejects God\u2019s spirit and urges folks to live for themselves.  They are rewarded by comfort, pleasure,\nmoney, power, things, whatever the world has to offer. Their goal is always to\nbe happy and avoid suffering in this world.   \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others are honestly trying to listen to God.  They are looking for God\u2019s will for them and\nthey are prompted by true \u201cWisdom\u201d, which come from the Spirit of God, the kind\nof Wisdom we hear about in the first reading. \nThese people are rewarded by a feeling of satisfaction infused by God\nwhen they are in harmony with God.  That\nsatisfaction is something that lasts forever.   \nThey suffer, work, sacrifice, and love unconditionally. They experience feelings\nof joy and satisfaction instead of comfort and the world\u2019s happiness, like the\nfeeling you get from nurturing your children, helping someone else in need, or taking\ncare of an aged parent  despite the pain\nand discomfort one incurs in the process.   These are the \u201cHoly Moments\u201d that Matthew\nKelly talked about in the book we all got last Easter.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, the Kingdom of God is amongst us, and co-exists with\nthe World as we know it.  It is not\nsomething that can be seen.  But it is\nsomething we can all experience.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When that flash of lightning occurs when we pass from this\nworld to the next the sheep will be separated from the goats,   And we will follow Jesus with the rest of his\nflock into the Kingdom of God, all those who are filled with the Spirit of God.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time Wis 7: 22b-8:1,Luke 17: 20-25 Deacon Larry Brockman Some people say that the Holy Spirit is not in the Old Testament.  But today we hear more about the nature of the Holy Spirit than in any place else in the Bible.  We hear about an \u201cintelligent, holy, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[167,598,597],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1168"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1170,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168\/revisions\/1170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}