Everything that the Father has is mine.

John 16: 12-15
Jesus said to his disciples: "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, may I believe in you with a simple faith, a strong faith, a faith that leads to generous self-giving. May I know you better each day, think each day more like you, act each day more like you.

Petition: Lord, increase my confidence in the assistance of the Holy Spirit.

1. But You Cannot Bear It Now
Our faith isn’t unreasonable, but it also isn’t simply fruit of our deduction. It goes beyond our reason alone. The apostles’ slowness in understanding Christ’s message wasn’t a question of I.Q. or education. They needed the Holy Spirit. When Peter recognized Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God, Christ responded: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). Faith is a gift; we must ask for it. Once the apostles have the gift of the Holy Spirit, not only will they be capable of understanding Christ’s message, but more importantly they will also be able to live it.

2. The Spirit…Will Speak What He Hears
While three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, are one in the same nature, they can never be separated in their actions. The Holy Spirit and his actions can never be legitimately separated from Christ. The Holy Spirit continues the work of salvation fulfilled by Christ (cf. John Paul II, Dominus Iesus, 12). The Spirit speaks what he hears from Christ. How attentively do I listen to the Holy Spirit?

3. The Spirit…Will Guide You to All Truth
“(While) Revelation is… complete (with Christ), it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 66). It is the Holy Spirit who will guide us, through the Church, to all truth. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us confidence in the Church’s teachings, and it is the Holy Spirit who should give us confidence in our own journey of holiness. I should ask myself what I am doing to grow in my understanding of the truth God has revealed to us. Do I read, at least occasionally from the Catechism of the Catholic Church? Do I read the texts of the Pope’s General Audiences on Wednesdays? What do I do to keep abreast of the constant teachings of the Church?

Conversation with Christ: Lord, lead me ever more fully into your truth. May I respond to that truth with the obedience of faith, a submission of my intellect and will to your will for me.

Resolution: I will try to maintain a greater spirit of recollection today to listen to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.