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“Would that all the Lord’s people were Prophets; that the Lord would put his spirit on them.”
Our Creator God is great and glorious! He exists from all eternity, and He lives in a Trinity of Divine Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In his declaration Moses justly expressed God’s own desire; for the Good God desires that every human being be filled with the Holy Spirit to prophesy, in other words, that his whole people would tell the truth everywhere and at all times.
God our Father wants to make of us his children in the very image and likeness of Jesus. So, if there is a blockage, it is not on God’s part, but rather on our part. As life happens, we are at times sick or wounded, lame or weak, and at other times we are straying or lost, fearful or doubtful. Every day we have a great need of the Master, the Good Shepherd.
“Would that all the Lord’s people were Prophets; that the Lord would put his spirit on them.”
Joshua did not want others to prophesy like Moses, so that only Moses would be special and filled with the Spirit of God. Here the Lord warns us not to make differences among us and to avoid all competition before God. We are all his children, and our Father gives in accord with his own will; for He knows us and He knows what we most need in order to live as his children in this world after the example of Jesus.
“Would that all the Lord’s people were Prophets; that the Lord would put his spirit on them.”
St. James warns the rich and those who takes excessive delight “in luxury and pleasures”; for this life passes too quickly and we risk losing eternal life. When we set too much the desires of our heart on the pleasures of this world or on unhealthy pleasures; then we are sick. God alone can heal us in allowing us to discover that He is good and loves us. “Taste and see that the Lord is good!”
Sin wounds us. In doing evil or avoiding to do good, our choices wound us. Jesus treats our wounds by warning us not to sin anymore and by mercifully offering us his forgiveness. If we think we are without sin, it is because we are blind. If we declare ourselves to be without sin, we make God out to be a liar.
“Would that all the Lord’s people were Prophets; that the Lord would put his spirit on them.”
Our bad habits make us lame, but Jesus repairs what is broken and
restores our mobility by warning us to prepare ourselves to resist temptations.
Our fears and our false hopes weaken us, but Jesus teaches us to want to do
good.
When we become fearful in the face of life’s challenges, Jesus encourages us by granting us to taste his divine mercy. Jesus is our Good Shepherd and his Sacred Heart is good and tender. He understands us and sympathizes with us in our distress.
Like sheep we stray by looking too greedily at the things of this world and by becoming jealous of others. When we turn away from God, we become lost. Jesus never abandons us, but through our family, our friends, and our pastors He helps us find our way and brings us back into the love of God.
“Would that all the Lord’s people were Prophets; that the Lord would put his spirit on them.”
When we suffer doubts, Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and build us up. With his many spiritual gifts, the Holy Spirit brings the power of God to heal the sick, restore the wounded, strengthen the weak, repair the lame, give courage to the fearful, find the lost, bring back the stray, and reassure the doubtful.
On this World Refugee Day, this Word of God is news that is particularly good. When the world in which we live becomes entirely hostile, there remains only God who is there to encourage us and give us the strength to go through it all.
“Would that all the Lord’s people were Prophets; that the Lord would put his spirit on them.”
From moment to moment, life offers us endless opportunities to practice putting our whole trust in God; for God alone is fully deserving of all our trust.
Our Eternal Father uses all our troubles as opportunities for us to practice putting our trust in Him through Jesus, trusting in God: the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Would that all the Lord’s people were Prophets; that the Lord would put his spirit on them.”
Let us take a few moments to let the Holy Spirit renew and
deepen our trust in Jesus.
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2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate of Madonna House
Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits
réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate
& Poustinik, Montréal QC
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