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    The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix) Van Gogh [ Web Gallery of Art ] You shall love your neighbour as yourself (Mt 22:39) . Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   Matthew 22:34-40 ( English Standard Version Anglicised) When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.   And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.   “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”   And he said to him,  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.   This is the great and first commandment.   And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.   On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Léachtaí i nGaeilge Stephen Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan   Archbishop of Seoul (1922 - 2009) This time six years ago I

I’ve been thinking about the Holy Spirit a lot lately, for a couple of reasons.   First, I am increasingly recognizing my need to listen to and follow promptings and movements of the Spirit.   Second, I am always so impressed with members of the Church who identify themselves as Charismatic. Not surprisingly, those who move in unison with the Holy Spirit often have an attractive something about them.   Is it humility?   Is it trust and hope?   Is it a certain kind of freedom?   I don’t know, but whatever it is, it is a beautiful charism. In his Letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 3, Verse 14 and following, St. Paul expresses his prayer for the strength of the people, saying, “that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith . . .” Yes, indeed, his Spirit is in us, giving us the power and strength we need to be witnesses to the gospel.   And, yes i