Devotion for today: Do not blaspheme against the Holy Spirit

Our question for today is: Why is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit an unforgivable sin?

 Scripture for meditation: Matthew 12:30-31

“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. That, I assure you, is why every sin, every blasphemy, will be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. “

Scripture for clarification: John 14:16-17

“I will ask the Father and he will give you another Paraclete – to be with you always; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, since it neither sees him nor recognizes him; but you can recognize him because he remains with you and will be within you.”

Father William Saunders, PhD., tells us: So what about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as an unforgivable sin? First, remember what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit. He identified the Holy Spirit as “the Paraclete,” meaning advocate, comforter, and guide, who instructs us and reminds us of all that Our Lord taught us. The Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of Truth, God’s eternal, immutable truth to which we pattern our own lives. (Cf. John 14:16-27; 16:7-14). As the Paraclete and Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit conveys the grace to enlighten our consciences to judge what is right versus what is wrong and strengthens our wills to do good and avoid evil. The Holy Spirit also moves us to examine our consciences, and reflect on what we have done or what we have failed to do. In this task, the Holy Spirit also moves us to conversion, helping us to recognize when we have turned away from the Lord through sin, and moving us to turn back to Him with a contrite and humble heart. Through the Holy Spirit, forgiveness is conveyed and the truth and love of the Lord is restored in our souls…. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit, according to our Holy Father, (John Paul II) “does not properly consist in offending against the Holy Spirit in words; it consists rather in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers to man through the Holy Spirit working through the power of the cross” (Dominum et Vivificantem,#46). Such blasphemy is to reject the Holy Spirit, to refuse radically to recognize sin and repent of it, and to block the healing and forgiveness offered by the Lord. So the sin is not unforgivable because of its seriousness, but because the sinner lacks the proper disposition to seek forgiveness and thereby to be forgiven. As St. Thomas Aquinas said, “…It excludes the elements through which the forgiveness of sin takes place.” How can the Lord forgive us and reconcile us to a sharing in His life if we refuse to recognize the sin as a sin and to say, “Please forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned against you and my neighbor?”This “hardness of heart” leads to a sustained and firm rejection of the love and mercy of God, which in turn leads to damnation. (Straight Answers, Cathedral Foundation Press, 1998)

Prayer: Come Holy Ghost, (text by Rabanus Maurus)

Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest, and in our hearts take up Thy rest; come with Thy grace and heav'nly aid, to fill the hearts which Thou hast made, to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.
O Comfort Blest to Thee we cry, Thou heav'nly Gift of God most high; Thou fount of life and fire of love,
And sweet anointing from above, And sweet anointing from above.
Praise be to Thee Father and Son, And Holy Spirit Three in one; and may the Son on us bestow
the gifts that from the Spirit flow, the gifts that from the Spirit flow.

My thoughts: Father Saunders has given us such a good explanation of this complex question. We are the ones who condemn ourselves to an eternity in God’s absence by refusing every offer made by the Holy Spirit to turn our hearts of stone into hearts of mercy and love. A priest once told me that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit works like this: throughout our entire life, God will continue to seek us out, to call us back to Him, to send the Holy Spirit to urge us to confess our sins and repent of our prideful ways. Even as we draw our dying breath, He will come one last time, arms extended in a welcoming embrace. If we take our foot and shove Him away, then we have committed the unforgivable sin. Put this way, I don’t think it is too difficult to understand why it cannot be forgiven.

Our prayer to God: Today let us examine our lives and root out all the prideful areas where we feel we know more than God does, where we chose and reject His commandments to suit our present comfort level, where we live placing ourselves above the call of Christ. God comes to us every moment of our lives, arms extended, welcoming us home to His love and mercy. What is our response? We need not wait until we draw that last breath to say we are sorry and change our ways. Let’s do it now.