the paraclete takes the witness stand
"It is the Spirit Who testifies to this, and the Spirit is Truth." —1 John 5:6
On this fourteenth day of Christmas, our true Love, Jesus, gives us victory. We defeat the evil one "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of (our) testimony" (Rv 12:11), that is, our witness.
The water of Jesus' baptism and the blood of His death witness that He is the Son of God (1 Jn 5:6-8). However, these witnesses are not always understood or accepted. So the Spirit witnesses for these witnesses (1 Jn 5:6). He bears witness on behalf of Jesus (Jn 15:26). "The Spirit Himself gives witness with our" spirits (Rm 8:16). Therefore, by the Holy Spirit, we believe that Jesus is God, for "no one can say: 'Jesus is Lord,' except in the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12:3). By the power of the Holy Spirit, we become witnesses for the risen Christ (Acts 1:8) and thereby conquer the world.
In this year of the Great Jubilee, as we prepare for the third millennium, the Holy Spirit wants to rest on us (Lk 4:18) and make us witnesses for Jesus and more than conquerors (Rm 8:37). Listen "to the voice of the Spirit" (Toward the Third Millennium, Pope John Paul II, 48), and renew the face of the earth (Ps 104:30).
Prayer: Holy Spirit, cry out in my heart "Abba" (Gal 4:6).
Promise: "Great crowds gathered to hear Him and to be cured of their maladies." —Lk 5:15
Praise: St. Raymond was a philosophy teacher, doctor of law, confessor to the Pope, author, archbishop, and head of the Dominican order.
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, July 21, 1999
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 29, 1999