With, in, and through the Power of the Spirit, All Things Are Possible

In today’s first reading, Acts 9: 31-42, Peter, totally transformed by the outpouring of the Spirit upon him at Pentecost, is an instrument in the hands of Christ, healing the sick, the paralyzed, raising those who have died and proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection. He is doing everything in the name of Jesus, the Son of God, the Holy One whom he had denied, whom he had challenged when He spoke of going up to Jerusalem to be killed by the chief priests and leaders of the people, the man who jumped in to the waters to walk to Jesus and sunk out of fear of the elements, the one who chopped off the soldier’s ear, and the one who locked himself in the upper room out of fear of the Jews.  Now, baptized in the Spirit, he feared no one and never said “no” to Jesus again. He opened his mind, his heart and his will to the Spirit of Christ leading him, strengthening him, challenging him to act in His name without fear, without giving in to weaknesses, without pride, knowing, beyond doubt, that only in Christ Jesus is his salvation and only in Christ Jesus does he do the will of the Father.

The same is true for us. Apart from Jesus, relying upon our own strength, we, too, will challenge God, complain against God, begin a project and abandon it when the going gets tough. We, too, relying only on ourselves, are prone to deny the Lord in crucial circumstances or to engage in behaviors that are contrary to what God expects of us. On the other hands, with Jesus, nothing is impossible because we are acting as ones dependent on grace and grace alone. We, too, will get across the troubled waters of our lives only when we humbly call out for help. We will leave our comfort zones only because we are empowered by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, sent my Jesus, to take possession of our minds, our will, our hearts.