16 May 2023 - Only By Grace Reflections
NOTE: Please click the Subscribe key on YouTube and press the black notification bell to receive the daily reflections. Or, open in YouTube for easy access. View and Like. Thank you.
TOPIC: DO WE BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS POWER?
Show More
First Reading: Acts 16: 22-34
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 138: 1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
Alleluia: John 16: 7, 13
Gospel: John 16: 5-11
St. Teresa of Avila, a Carmelite nun, mystic and author of spiritual writings and poems, is one of the many saints who claim to have encounters with the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Paraclete. Recalling St. Teresa of Avila’s story and similar claims of other saints when I attended a parish-based seminar and was about to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, I silently conversed with the Holy Spirit and said, “If you are real, let me see, hear, and feel You”. Suddenly, tears rolled down my cheeks uncontrollably. I could not understand what was happening at that moment. It was then that I realized, the Holy Spirt must have listened to my prayer and manifested His reality and power to me.
Various saints’ encounters with the Holy Spirit like that of St. Teresa of Avila, showed He is real and powerful. My similar experience has also allowed me to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s work in people and situations in so many ways, thus confirming what I dared the Holy Spirit to prove to me—His reality and more importantly, His power.
Our lives may not be perfect, but with the Holy Spirit being with us and working on us since the time of the apostles, but many times, we would realize His presence in our hearts, as He guides us, helps us to experience little miracles, and nurtures our own spirit when our faith is challenged.
This is the 1129th installment of our CFC contemplation series focusing on the daily liturgical readings.
[NOTE: As we continue to pray for Bro Bong Arjonillo’s healing and recovery, let us listen to our sister Evelyn Ylagan, CFC HOLD International Coordinator, as she brings us today's
