A Cycle – 14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time 23

Rom. 8:9,11-13

Speaking to the woman at the well, Jesus said “whoever drinks of the water I give will never thirst, as the water I give will become a well of water springing up for eternal live” (Jn.4;14).  At the great feast Jesus proclaimed “…all who believe in Him will from their inner most being will flow a rivers of living water (Jn.7:38).   That water is the Spirit would be given to all who believe, and scripture tells us up to that point the Spirit had not been given because Jesus was not glorified (Jn.7:38).   Jesus has repeatedly told us there is a dominant force within us, a force so great it will if is tapped into it will change everything we know about our faith.

That message has been told and retold by the disciples.  Today Paul is desperately trying to have us realize how critical the Spirit is for our ability to live according to God’s plan.

There is no doubt the Spirit of God dwells in us! The Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead wants to bring us to life and shake us up. To become awaken within us the transforming power of God promised us.  Paul encourages us to awake from our slumber and become aware of the gift of grace God has given us by pouring the Spirit into our hearts. That Spirit filled all of us at our baptism. But unfortunately for many of us the Spirit is dormant and its desire to reveal all things to us remains untapped.

How can we be so unaware of the one thing Jesus said was better for us to experience than him (Jn.16:7).  Jesus knows this transforming power of the Spirit for He witnessed it at creation.  He was present as the Spirit brought life to the unformed substance of the earth.  He witnessed it as it empowered all the great Prophets who raised the dead, parted waters and brough life where there was no life.  Jesus experienced that same power come upon Mary at her conception and at His own baptism by John.  He tapped into the power of the Spirit during His ministry each time He raised His eyes to heaven in prayer.

That Spirit dwells within us and it does need to be awakened.  How do we do that and why do we need to do that?  Why we need the spirit is simple.  It is because God knows our hearts are always inclined to take matters into our own hands.  Adam and Eve are perfect examples of that trait.  Self-preservation lies within each of us and compels us to selfish acts. It tells us we cannot trust God so we will do everything we can to ensure we are eligible for salvation.  Adam and Eve wanted to be like God and the temptation was if they ate the fruit of that tree their eyes would be opened, and they would be like God. 

We want eternal life; therefore, we will eat every fruit that tells us we will be pleasing to God.  We will try every spiritual exercise, program, or ritual if we believe we will be pleasing to God.  But have we given God the one thing He desires most and that is our hearts.  That is why we need the Spirit. We need that living water to penetrate deep within our core and touch our hearts.  That is why we need to embrace what God promised to send us to change us.  The Spirit will change our motivation from seeking forgiveness and mercy to embrace and allow mercy and forgiveness to embrace us first and then to change us.        

We plead with God to help us put to death the deeds of the flesh.  However, that desire drives us to summon an interior will to resist temptation. That my brothers and sisters never does achieve anything for us for it only makes the temptation stronger. What we need to understand is the Spirit will reveal the lie of temptation and provide us with the power to overcome sin. 

The Spirit is our source of holiness, and it will change everything for us.  The spirit will animate our prayers, open our minds to understand and apply the scriptures to our lives, give us wisdom to grasp the things of our faith in ways that enhance our participation in rituals.  The Spirit will animate our ability to worship God with gratitude for sending us Jesus to redeem us.  Instead of beating ourselves for failing to live up to some false standard of holiness we can be filled with joy because we are pleasing to God because of the Spirit’s work within us.   

It is no wonder Jesus tells us we have been given the ability to understand what the wise fail to understand.  The wise are self-righteous while we who simply believe are open to the action of the Spirit.  They rely on their intellect and education while we rely on the Spirit working within our hearts.  The Spirit brings us into the presence of God and shows us we are pleasing to God because of Christ and the Spirit within us. The Spirit helps us walk by faith not by sight.    

This is what God desires more than our sacrifices and offerings. God desires us to trust and rely on the Spirit not our ability to follow the law. How do we do that is so simple it is hard.  We invite the Spirit to come into our hearts and our lives.  We do exactly what the woman at the well did that day. We say “give me that water” because we will always fall short of what God desires by what we are doing now.