Mary Slessor, Missionary in West Africa
Text for the Reflection
1 Corinthians 2:14-16
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
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Reflection
Today´s text is built on yesterday´s text when Paul talks about the power of the cross and how those with secular wisdom see it as foolishness. Today´s text is important in helping us how we should interact with non-believers. In short, non-believers cannot be expected to act or think like believers because the two operate from different spheres. The non-believers who are not guided by the Holy Spirit lack a godly perspective in their lives. The translation, ´without spirit´ has some challenges because the most accurate one is ´natural person´ as distinct from the one under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The natural person sees as foolishness anything that comes from the Holy Spirit. Our human reasoning never comprehends the spiritual truth of God hence we need the gift of the Holy Spirit to understand the mystery of God. Paul made an interesting proposition that those with the Holy Spirit have the mind of God. In technical language, it is like God has put his revelatory software in our minds so that our thinking and actions resonate with that of God. Therefore, brothers and sisters let us aspire to have the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we have the same mind as that of Christ. Amen.
Let Us Pray
Eternal Father, who at the baptism of Jesus revealed him to be your son, anointing him with the Holy Spirit: grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit, that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children; through Jesus Christ your son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
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