The most damning statement from Saint Stephen in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles is that those opposing him are really opposing the Holy Spirit. What about us? Do we oppose the Holy Spirit? Readings for Today.
Do we oppose the Holy Spirit?
When was the last time you found yourself being led by God to do something that you did not want to do? Or, put another way, do you find yourself limiting the will of God to only those things you wanted to do in the first place? Do you seek God’s will, or do you seek your own?
Even the human Jesus found himself wishing God wanted him to do something else. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed to the Father to remove the cup of suffering from him. If the human Jesus found himself wishing God would ask him to do something else, shouldn’t the same be true for us?
It can be the case that we find ourselves in situations where we simply do not want to do what God wants us to do. Listen to any vocation story from a priest or religious and sometimes you hear how it is they only listened to God’s voice after repeated times God tried to speak to them.
Have you ever found yourself in the presence of someone who makes a decision to do something amazing because they had a deep sense that this was exactly what God was calling them to do? Something that without any consideration of faith seems like the craziest thing to do?
Are there times when you will really believe that the ends justify evil means to accomplish them? Do we overlook the bad behaviors and attitudes because the end result is a good one? For if we consider Jesus, he never did this. For example, he never simply made people do what he wanted them to do because he knew best.
Consider this question. Take the case of someone who opposes abortion. (A lofty ambition.) Is it the case that it is morally acceptable to support a candidate who would remove the means of caring for a child because they oppose abortion?
While it is true that Jesus said that we would always have the poor, at the same time Jesus demonstrated to us time and again that our judgement is related to how we treated and responded to those in need. Matthew 25 makes it quite clear that ignoring the needs of others means ignoring Jesus himself.
For what we see in today’s first reading is that we have another example of the Sanhedrin ignoring the tremendous works of God. Miraculous deeds are being accomplished through the apostles, through believers like Saint Stephen, but bound by jealousy the Sanhedrin cannot see it.
The early Christians are not immune to opposing the Holy Spirit either. They resisted the ways in which the Holy Spirit was working even in the Gentiles. The Gentiles were coming to believe in Jesus, and their faith was confirmed by the Holy Spirit. Yet there were those Christians who would not accept this.
It is so easy to see this when it happens in the past. But for those of us living in the present, it is not always as easy to see. And the temptation is such that in the solid belief that what we are doing and saying is absolutely true, we can find ourselves opposing the Holy Spirit. Ask God today to open your hearts to his will, even when doing so seems quite difficult indeed.
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