The Advocate

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And when he comes he [the Holy Spirit, the Advocate,] will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

That’s pretty amazing. Talk about a different world view. So we’re convicted in sin, righteousness and condemnation?

“Sin because they do not believe in me.”

If we really believe in Jesus Christ our lives change. Our actions change; we can never go back to the old self without a sense of wrong. It’s sort of like the guilty feeling when you quit smoking and suddenly find yourself lighting up out of the blue. It’s just never as enjoyable again, because you know it for what it is.

“Righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me”

What in the world is righteousness anyway (And why don’t I know that by now)? Webster’s defines it as:

The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude.
Note: Righteousness, as used in Scripture and theology, in which it chiefly occurs, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law.

We’re simply restored in our basic nature by the mysterious salvation which Christ ensures for us.

“Condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned”

Are our lives ordered towards a genuine belief in Jesus Christ, or towards the ‘things of the world’?   The world, created by God, is indeed good.  But we are called to live a properly ordered life; i.e. to have our priorities straight and our heads screwed on right. 

The Holy Spirit, the Advocate, will teach us all things and will speak to our conscience about the truth of sin, about growing in holiness and uprightness, and about the enemy of our souls.

Sounds like a pretty good friend to keep in touch with.

Lydia's Example of Faith

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One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.

After she and her household had been baptized, she offered us an invitation, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home,” and she prevailed on us.

Lydia is an interesting figure in Acts. She was a ‘woman of God’, and she ‘listened’ when Paul spoke. She heard and understood, and within her heart the flame of knowledge quickened. She invited the missionaries to stay with her, opening her home to them.

She was the first European convert in Paul’s 2nd missionary journey, and was a dealer in purple cloth. Her work required considerable capital, as purple dyes were quite expensive and purple cloth was used for such things as the stripes in Roman Senator’s robes. So Lydia was faithful and emminently successul in working through the ways of the world. In other words, like many early Christians she was wealthy. And the European Church more than likely first convened in her living room.

One often considers that success in the world precludes true faithfulness or growth in holiness. However, nothing could be farther from the truth. To put it humorously:  It’s good to give God credit, but He needs cash too.

Remaining faithful amidst life’s trials is rarely as trying as remaining faithful during times of great success, when our minds and lives are wont to wander and we consider that perhaps we don’t need God since after all we’re succesful. Lydia is one of the many holy woman of the Bible who demonstrates great faith amidst a life of wealth and success.

On The Feast of Catherine

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 I love St. Catherine of Siena, and here are some quotes to live by:

“To a brave man, good and bad luck are like his right and left hand. He uses both.”

“Strange that so much suffering is caused because of the misunderstandings of God’s true nature. God’s heart is more gentle than the Virgin’s first kiss upon the Christ. And God’s forgiveness to all, to any thought or act, is more certain than our own being.”

Pax Christi…

Young, Pretty … Hostage


Support free speech on the internet. 

Help to free beauty queen journalist Roxana Seberi, being held hostage in Iran replete with sham courts and false charges. It’s a Blue Ribbon event.
 
This from an Anestheisioboist:

A group of bloggers is holding a blog rally in support of Roxana Saberi (who is spending her birthday on a hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin Prison) and of others who have dared to express their thoughts freely only to be imprisoned, abused, or killed.

Please consider placing a blue ribbon this week on your blog, website, and facebook / myspace / twitter page, and invite others to do the same, in honor of the journalists, bloggers, students, and writers who are imprisoned in Evin Prison (nicknamed “Evin University”) and other prisons around the world for speaking and writing down their thoughts.

Officials in Iran need to know your concern for Roxana Saberi and your desire to return her home, and while she is in Iran to have a fair appeals process.

Write to:
His Excellency Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee,
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran
622 Third Ave.
New York, NY 1007
e-mail: [email protected]

To read samples of Roxana’s reporting, click here.

Fr. Kenneth Allen