"When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,
he will testify to me.
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.
Rightly we speak of mystery when we talk about the Holy Spirit; or the Trinity, God, and man. (We can't even agree on how we should speak of man, or humanity, or humankind, or them. Whatever it is it's hard to fathom.
But we know even without words who we are and what we must do, for that One whom Jesus sends from the Father impels us and does not let us loiter in uncertainty. It's only when we try to agree on what we know with words and deeds that confusion comes over us.
Thank Goodness we are given human authorities whom we can trust to call us together. They are sacramentally ordained and the same faith that God has given us teaches us to work with that Magisterium for the common good. God knows and we know ordained people sin like the rest of us, but the Advocate nonetheless uses them and us and our faith in them to bring about the Kingdom of God.
I've been reading a sociological account of the Holocaust, and have yet to assimilate everything I've learned by the reading, but I hear the author's urgent warning that for every human authority there must be a willingness to critically understand what is demanded of us and how we should respond. And unquestioning trust in logic and rationality can dismiss even the most basic moral sensibilities.
As a Christian I understand that I must take up my cross and follow Jesus into the mysterious irrationality of his death. As much as we need authorities, we also need curmudgeons who question everything, and habitually make life difficult for bureaucracies and functionaries. Life should never be as simple as Hitler's vision and Nazi propaganda; nor should we ever trust entirely any political party, religious authority, or charismatic personality. The evil in every person wants only power and has no interest in God's will or God's kingdom.
Questions always remain; some can be ignored and some cannot be ignored. Some are monkey wrenches thrown into the machinery of our evil ways.
...care and not to care. Teach us to sit still.Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our deathPray for us now and at the hour of our death.
