Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Saturday of the fifth week of Easter, May 9th, 2026

Delivered by Valeria from the Parish of Saint Paul in the Diocese of Bandung, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 16: 1-10; Rs psalm 100: 1-2.3.5; John 15: 18-21.BETWEEN THE HOLY SPIRIT AND EVIL SPIRIT Our meditation today has the theme: Between the HolySpirit and Evil Spirit. This reflection wants to bring our attention to twopoints of view about the spirit of life that all of us have. From the positionof the Lord Jesus Christ and all those belong to Him, the spirit that is inconstant opposition with Him is no other than the evil spirits with Satan asthe commander. Whereas, from the position of the evil spirits, theSpirit of God is their greatest enemy. The Holy Spirit sent to the world hasthe duty to animate all of us and the Church with His divine gifts. Byreceiving the sacraments and do spiritual activities, we are graced with theHoly Spirit. But this is only one side of the reality. The Satan, as indicatedin the scriptures, after not being able to conquer Jesus who fasted for 40 daysin the wilderness, he always waited for the appropriate time to tempt and conquerJesus and all those belong to Him. None of us is free from the Satan'stemptation. So, there are two opposing spirits that we alwaysencounter in this life. We never live neutral or in empty space and time. As weare alive, we certainly belong to one of them to the moment of our death. Whichspirit wins in the end depends very much on who the human person chooses toside with according to his or her free will. But there is a situation which wemay call a peaceful moment. When there is no conflict of interests, it happensthat the two spiritual powers are present and close to us. For example, when you are alone in a quiet moment inthe room. You have no evil thought and intention, and no sinful act. At thesame moment and place there is close to you the evil spirit who is ready totempt you. He is waiting for a proper time when you are out of control or youare unaware of yourself. Every single moment is so precious opportunity forSatan when we do not use it well. When that crucial moment of conflict happens,you must choose truth or evil, good or bad, right or wrong.                                                             A very important point here is that as followers ofChrist, we must be able to reject the spirit that is not in line with JesusChrist. Christ has prepared us to be able to distinguish the Holy Spirit fromthe evil spirits. He always commands us to obey to the Word of God. He says,"I chose you from this world". We belong to Jesus, so we have theability to avoid the evil spirits. This was also the experience of theapostles, Paul and Barnabas, when they did their extraordinary mission ofpreaching the Gospel. The saints are our role models for choosing the HolySpirit rather than the evil spirits. Someone who gives you advice or reminder that you mustchoose the Holy Spirit and reject the evil spirits, let it be clear to you thathe or she must be a messenger from God. As we approach the Feast of thePentecost, we should open ourselves sincerely so that the Holy Spirit is theOne who fills us with His divine gifts, and not any other spirits. Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us alwayswith Your blessings so that we will be able to fight the influences of thisworld that are contrary to You. Send Your Spirit to fill us and all the face ofthe earth. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In thename of the Father ...