[Salvation]

April 17, 2005

Come, Holy Ghost

The most popular hymn to the Holy Spirit in English is the familiar :

Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest,
And in our hearts take up Thy rest…

The words for this hymn were composed in the ninth century by Rabanus Maurus, a Benedictine monk, who became the Archbishop of Mainz, Germany.

Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit

The Bible, originally written in Hebrew and Greek, began to be translated into Latin in the late second century. By the fifth century, largely through the work of St. Jerome, there was a standard Latin text known as the “Vulgate” (from a Latin word meaning “popular”). In this version the Greek for “Holy Spirit” was translated as “Spiritus Sanctus.”

When the Bible began to be translated into English in the 16th century, “Spiritus Sanctus” was translated as “Holy Ghost.” The word “ghost” comes from an Old English word that means “spirit.” Gradually, however, this translation of the Bible in the 20th century shifted from “Holy Ghost: to “Holy Spirit.”

Good Shepherd Sunday

Today is “Good Shepherd Sunday.” On the fourth Sunday of Easter – no matter which of the three cycles it is – the Gospel is about Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

[Salvation]

Fourth Sunday in Easter

Today’s Gospel draws the image everyone loves – Jesus as the Good Shepherd, going out to the lost sheep and putting it on His shoulders…the shepherd who gives his life for the sheep…the sheep who know him and He knows them.

But Jesus also talks about himself as the gate to the sheep’s pen. He says, “I am the gate for the sheep….Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”

We all have closed gates in our life. Jesus says “The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice….I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Think about the closed gates in your life: Hatred (or bad blood). Jesus says, “Do you think I was never hated? I know what that’s like. I’ll show you how to open that gate – it’s called forgiveness.”

Health. Jesus says, “Do you think I don’t know what it’s like to hurt in your body? I can take you through that gate. Don’t be afraid.”

Addiction. Jesus says, “Do you think I never had to break away from something? Do you think it was easy to leave my home? I’ll take you through that gate.”

Maybe opening the closed gate means facing up to truth – for the first time admitting it to yourself or telling somebody else who ought to hear it. Jesus says, “I had to speak the truth. I know what it’s like to say a hard truth.”

Sometimes a closed gate is accepting who you are – This is me. These are my life circumstances. And Jesus says, “You know what…I love you anyway. I’ll take you through that gate and you can accept who you are. I do.”

Spend some quiet time with the Risen Lord.