Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time (October 30, 2017): The Spirit of Adoption

Chúa Nhật, 29-10-2017 | 16:08:39

Today’s Readings:

Romans 8:12-17
Ps 68:2, 4, 6-7ab, 20-21
Luke 13:10-17
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/103017.cfm

USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/17_10_30.mp3

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

Good News Reflection:

What does Saint Paul mean when he says, in today’s first reading, that we received a “spirit of adoption”?

The Holy Spirit of God, he says, bears witness — testifies — that we are God’s children. We are his heirs, which implies a wonderful inheritance. We were born as mere humans, totally lacking God’s supernatural nature, but we have been adopted into his loving family with all the riches of our Father’s kingdom — the gifts and talents, wealth of love, abundance of goodness, generous stewardship of earthly treasures, and everything else that belongs to our Father.

In the Creed, we say that we believe in one God and that he is the Father of all. He was our Father since the moment he created us in our human mother’s womb. We were made in his image. He’s the only true (i.e., perfectly loving) Father that we’ve ever had. So — why do we need a spirit of adoption?

When we sin, we break the spiritual connection between us and our Creator. It’s like the rebellious son who rejects the teachings of his parents and adopts a contrary lifestyle. He cannot break the birth bond. He cannot put an end to his blood connection with his parents, not even if he changes his name. However, the family’s spiritual connection has been broken. When the son finally reconciles with his parents, the spiritual bond must be restored: Trust has to be rebuilt and hearts need to be healed.

When we reconcile with God, how can we rebuild trust? He knows that we’ll sin again. Although we sincerely want to be good children, he knows he cannot trust us to remain sinless. So he gave us a spirit of adoption. It’s a gift from the Father’s tremendous, unconditional love for us. Because of this spirit of adoption, it doesn’t matter that we cannot be trusted. The Father trusts his own Holy Spirit, and “the Spirit bears witness that we are God’s children.”

Our Father does not hold our past sins against us. He does not base our future with him on how we treated him in the past nor on what we’re capable of doing again. The past has nothing to do with his acceptance of us or his desire to partner with us in ministry. Rather, our Father bases everything on the spirit of adoption.

Were we sincere in wanting to reconcile with him? That’s all that matters.

If we stay connected to him through the spirit of adoption, as true children of our Daddy-God, we treat others with the same mercy. Like our Daddy-God, when we suffer in a relationship where the bond has been broken and trust has not yet been rebuilt, if that person sincerely wants to reconcile with us, we have to place our trust in the spirit of adoption — not on human flesh, but on God’s own Spirit. It’s the only way we can be healthy and holy in our dealings with those who have hurt us and now hope to restore a good relationship with us.

If you’re facing a difficult reconciliation with someone, use my e-book “The Path to Healing in Difficult Relationships”; download it from http://catholicdr.com/ebooks/relationships.htm.

Today’s Prayer:

I ask You, Lord, for the grace of never losing Your Holy Spirit’s guidance. Help me to always treasure human life, precious and priceless, for You. Amen.

Tags: Good News Reflection, Holy Gospel according to Luke., The Spirit of Adoption, Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time