Saturday, October 19, 2019 28th Week in
Ordinary Time 1st
Reading: Rom 4: 13, 16- 18 Gospel: Lk 12:8-12
Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before people, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But the one who denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.
There will be pardon for the one who criticizes the Son of Man, but there will be no pardon for the one who slanders the Holy Spirit.
When you are brought before the synagogues, governors and rulers, don’t worry about how you will defend yourself or what to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you have to say.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
The statement “Sins against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven” will lead to wrong conclusions unless we interpret it in a manner consistent with God’s boundless love. A person bothered by a big sin but believes not in the power of God’s love will not seek divine forgiveness. In such a case, the refusal to ask for forgiveness is a denial of God’s love. By extension it is also a denial of the Holy Spirit since the Holy Spirit is fruit of the love between God the Father and God the Son. This denial of the Holy Spirit is a form of sin that cannot be forgiven because it is tied to one’s refusal to ask for forgiveness.
Another way to interpret this difficult Gospel passage is by way of revisiting the mechanics of repentance. No repentance is possible without inspiration from the Holy Spirit. By implication, any person who does not believe in the Holy Spirit (more so if he slanders or blasphemes against Him) cannot come to true sorrow for sins and will never come to repentance. How then can he be forgiven? To say that one can come to repentance without inspiration from the Holy Spirit is a bold denial of the role of grace in every person’s conversion. Without God’s grace any attempt to rise from sin becomes prelude to another fall.
While we may not be among those who categorically deny the power of God to forgive or the role of the Holy Spirit in conversion, we may still be guilty of some sins against the Holy Spirit if we procrastinate matters of salvation. Some adopt the so-called “twenty-minutes–before – takeoff” strategy to secure entry to the next life. The game plan is to enjoy everything that the devil can offer in this lifetime and feign repentance when it is time to die by confessing all sins at deathbed. This too is a mockery of the Holy Spirit upon whose power alone repentance can happen. No forgiveness is available under this scheme. –(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.