Philippine Asian News Today Vol 18 No 18 | Page 36

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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY September 16 - 30, 2016

FAITH AND RELIGION

Wisdom from
the Word

PROFILING GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

Ben Berto
18 And Jesus came and
spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in
heaven and on earth. 19 Go
therefore[a] and make disciples
of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of
the age.” Amen.[b]
Matthew 28:18- 20, NKJV
6 This is He who came by
water and blood—Jesus Christ;
not only by water, but by water
and blood. And it is the Spirit
who bears witness, because the
Spirit is truth. 7 For there are
three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Spirit; and these three
are one. 8 And there are three
that bear witness on earth:[a] the
Spirit, the water, and the blood;
and these three agree as one.
1 John 5: 6-8 NKJV
Jesus plainly explained to
His disciples the role of Third
Person of the Godhead, the Holy
Spirit. King David in his confession Psalm asked God not to take
the Holy Spirit from him. (Psalm
51: 11 TLB). The profile of the

Holy Spirit is spiritual in that He
cannot be seen and yet He is a
person. The disciples saw Jesus;
Daniel in vision saw the Ancient
of Days on His throne, but no
one saw the Holy Spirit as a person and yet Jesus talks about
Him as if the Person is there in
front of Him. We will continue
with the profile of the Holy Spirit
as the Seventh-day Adventist
Church believe.
“Lights from the lamps
flickered in the upper room as
the disciples conversed with their
Master. The questions they still
asked, even after being with Him
for three years , made it obvious
that they did not have clear understanding of His mission on earth.
They clung to their hope that He
would liberate their nation from
Roman occupation. Recognizing their misunderstanding, Jesus tried to prepare them for the
events were all but upon them.
He quieted their fears of the future by speaking to them of the
Gift of the Holy Spirit that He and
the Father would give the world.
“Don’t worry about the future.”
He said in essence. “Through
the Holy Spirit, you will have My
presence with you to guide you
and sustain you in everything you

experience, regardless of how difficult or or painful it may be.”
As One of the Members of
the Godhead, the Holy Spirit is
a Person, fully Divine. He had an
active part with he Father and the
Son in the creation of the world
and since then He has been intimately involved in the plan of
salvation.
WHAT JESUS SAID
“Jesus’ teaching about the
Holy Spirit is is recorded in John
14, 15, and 16.He is called the
“Spirit of truth”, (John 14: 17)
whom the Father will send in Jesus’ name(John 14: 26). “He will
teach you all things’” Jesus said,
“’and He will remind you of everything I have said to you’” John
14: 26 He came specifically to
testify about Jesus)John 14: 26).
And because He is not limited
by neither time nor space, He
can represent Jesus to the world
anywhere, anytime. In addition
to working with the disciples,
enabling them to carry out their
mission, the Holy spirit is among
unconverted people, convicting
them of “sin and righteousness
and judgment”(John 16: 80
“We tend to understand
less about the Person and the
work of the Holy Spirit than we

do other Members of the Godhead. That’s because the Spirit’s
work is to make known Jesus and
the Father rather than Himself. It
was through the ministry of the
Holy Spirit that holy men wrote
the Bible, which bears witness
to Jesus (2 Peter 1: 21). He filled
the life of Jesus with power. Because of the Spirit’s ministry, the
bible comes alive for us, making
Jesus real, sensitizing our hearts
to Jesus and equipping us to live
for Him.
WHAT THE SPIRIT DOES
FOR US
“The Holy Spirit is involved
in every aspect of our Christian
life. When we come to God, it
is because the Spirit has been
working on our hearts, giving us
the desire to learn about God and
to live the way He wants us to.
Anytime we want to know more
of what the Bible says about
God, all we have to ask for understanding and the Holy Spirit
will guide us to the passages we
should study. The Spirit will impress our minds, leading us to a
clear understanding of the Bible,
and how its lessons apply to our
lives today. Then He will give us
the power to live the truths we
have learned. When we feel guilty

for our sins and repent of them,
it is because the Holy Spirit has
been at work in our lives. Everything we know about God and
Jesus we understand more clearly because the Holy Spirit, quietly
and humbly, has been carrying
out in our lives the work that He
was sent to do. The Spirit also
strengthens the church and its
members through spiritual gifts.
Some of these gifts are quite
spectacular, while others are less
dramatic. Yet, all of them are
equally essential. Some of these
gifts are mentioned in Ephesians
4: 11; “It was He ( the Holy Spirit
) who gave some to be apostles,
some to be prophets, some to
be evangelists, and some to be
pastors and teachers”(see also
Romans 12: 6-8; 1 Corinthians
12: 4-11, 28-31; 13: 1-3). Both
the Old and the New Testaments
tell us that the Spirit had an active role in both the creation of
the world and its redemption. As
the personal Representative of
Jesus, the Spirit accomplishes in
the world what Jesus would do if
He were physically present today.
For further study, see Luke 1: 35;
4: 18; Acts 10: 3, Romans 1: 1-4,
2Corinthians 3: 18; Ephesians 4:
11, 12)

Divine justice

Moments
Fr, Jerry M. Orbos, SVD
The story is told about a
customer who said to the waiter:
“Every day, you charge money
for a cup of coffee. Wouldn’t it be
wonderful if you serve me coffee
free of charge today?”
The waiter said: “Fair
enough, sir. Every day, you drink
coffee from a filled cup. Today,
sir, you will drink coffee from an
empty cup!”
*****
In today’s Gospel (Lk. 16,
19-31), Jesus teaches us that
God is fair. There is divine justice and it will catch up with all of
us, sooner or later. The story of
the rich man and the poor man,
Lazarus, reminds us that God
rewards the good and punishes
the bad. That should give us the
consolation or the warning, depending on which side we are
coming from. Remember this:
Comfort is not forever; likewise, suffering is not forever.
***
For those who think they are
on a roll and can get away with
misdeed and wrongdoing, think
again. Summer is not forever.
Winter will come sooner or later.
And for those who think they are

in a bind and are always
on the losing side, think again.
Winter is not forever. Spring and
summer will come. God knows
and sees the heart of everyone.
***
Credit and debit. There will
be a final accounting that will be
clean and uncorrupted. Worldly
accounting is inaccurate, if not
unfair, or altogether unjust. Indeed, why do evil people prosper and good people suffer? So
it seems. But remember, those
who prosper materially by evil
ways, pay the price, even now.
Those who suffer now because
of their goodness likewise reap
the harvest of peace, even now.
Here and in the hereafter, God
has a way of implementing His
divine justice. Don’t count it out.
Don’t belittle it.
***
Many of the rich, the powerful, the popular and the influential now will all die, and will soon
be forgotten. Who will the world
remember?
And who will the Lord reward? Those who did good, who
sacrificed, who took the road of
humility and selflessness. Please

remember this: “Ang taong mayabang, tinatamaan. Ang taong
mapagkumbaba, pinagpapala
(The proud person gets struck.
The humble person is blessed).”
***
Sept. 28 is the feast of our
first Filipino saint, Saint Lorenzo
Ruiz, who was martyred in Nagasaki, Japan. A martyr is one who
died for his/her faith. A saint is
one who lived out his/her faith.
Whatever, a martyr or a saint died
or lived for something or someone greater than himself/herself.
Whether we are rich or poor, let
us live for something, and die
for something/someone greater
than ourselves.
***
Riches and power can really blind us and make us not see
what is really essential, and truly
important in life. I have met many
rich and famous people. Some of
them have edified me with their
humility. Some of them have disgusted me with their pride, just
because they have the money.
Some of them are generous and
some of them are stingy. Some
of them are so free, and some
of them are so imprisoned with

their money. Some of them are
preparing for eternity, and some
of them are wallowing in luxury
and comfort, with no thought of
hell or heaven, come what may.
***
Whether we are rich or poor,
we can always be kind. Please be
kind in your thoughts, words and
deeds. Kindness is what defines
us human beings, and differentiates us from animals. God has
been very kind to us. Let us be
kind to one another.
Sept. 29 is the feast of
Archangels Michael, Gabriel and
Raphael. We ask them to protect
us from wars, violence, killings,
accidents, disabling illnesses
and bad people. Also from selfishness, pride, hopelessness and
depression. Dear Archangels,
please protect us from leaders
who lead us into the “valley of
tears.”
***
Inviting you to “Walk with
God to Manaoag,” our biennial
thanksgiving and petition walk,
on Oct. 1, starting at 5 a.m. from
Urdaneta Cathedral in Pangasinan, ending with a 9 a.m. Mass at
the Shrine of Our Lady of Manao-

WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM

ag. We offer this walk especially
for peace and true progress in
our country, in our families and
homes, and in the whole world.
Please remember that October is
the month of the Rosary. Let us
pray more, pray much, and pray
on!
***
Let us acknowledge and
pray for the seafarers and their
families today as the Catholic
Church in the Philippines celebrates the 21st National Seafarers Day.
***
Think about this: “We think
sometimes that poverty is only
being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for
is the greatest poverty. We must
start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.” (Saint
Teresa of Calcutta)
***
A moment with the Lord:
Lord, You are a just and
loving God. Help us to believe
and not give up on divine justice.
Amen. (Inquirer)