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[Jesus
said,] "When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the
Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will
testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from
the beginning."
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"Before
time began," Optimus Prime begins the movie "Transformers," "there was
the cube." Known as the Allspark, it was what created life. Thus the
planet Cybertron came into existence. "But," Optimus Prime explains,
"like all great power some wanted it for good. Others, for evil. And
so, began the war." The war destroyed the planet and the cube was lost.
Eventually, it found its way to Earth, which brought the good and evil
forces of Cybertron to the planet Earth. Even among the people who
wanted the good, who did not want to harm the humans, there was a
desire to ravage the earth in search of the cube. But Prime remarks
that they cannot harm the species on Earth because there is goodness in
them, and besides, everyone has a right to freedom. The good warriors
of Cybertron then set out to destroy the cube to bring peace to Earth,
a planet whose inhabitants were themselves prone to both good and
violence, a planet of people who often did not understand the freedom
they possessed.
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Freedom
has been defined in various ways. Our dictionary says that it is a
state in which somebody is able to act and live as he/she chooses,
without being subject to any undue restraints or restrictions. Such is
the thought of Optimus Prime of the movie "Transformers." He
understood
that the people of Earth, indeed, all people, should be able to live
freely, that is, without unnecessary restrictions.
Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the planet Earth that the good robots were trying to protect, were often prone to misuse their freedom. For many of them, freedom meant that they could do what they wanted, even to the point of removing the freedom of others so that they could have the power to control. It was the original problem of the fictional planet Cybertron; it remains the problem of the real Earth where we live. We want freedom, but many want it in such a way that it will destroy others' freedom. Jesus promised that he would send the Spirit of truth, the truth that will set a person free (John 8:32). Thus, he pointed out to us that the essence of freedom is "truth," and that, if freedom was to be complete, even freedom itself must be restrained. Freedom is a gift, a gift that many on our Earth do not experience right now because there are people of power who destroy everyone's freedom. Those people of power only desire their own well-being. Jesus knew that the Spirit of truth was necessary for humankind so that the freedom they possess will always be life-giving for all of us. |
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THOUGHT
How
would you define "the Spirit of truth"?
PRAYER Good
and gracious God, your Son promised us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and
that it would set us free. Give us the grace to understand that our
freedom must be guided by that same Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth,
so
that each of us will respect the freedom of every one. Be with us, we
pray.
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©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |