Brazilian liberation theologian Leonardo Boff witnesses the presence of the Holy Spirit in the creativity of the arts.  

[The Spirit] is present wherever people live by love, witness to the truth, act in solidarity, and practice compassion. Wherever such realities are manifest in human beings, anywhere in the world, it is a sign that the Spirit has come upon them and is active within them.   

It is by the inspiration of the Spirit that poets and writers redraw life with all its lights and shadows, its dramas and achievements. They are seized by an inner light, and by energies that prompt unexpected connections; they bring something new into the world. Many writers confess … that they feel possessed by an inner energy (a daimon, a good spirit) that seizes them and makes them think and write.   

By the inspiration of the Spirit, artists and artisans elicit from their material—wood, stone, marble, granite—an image that only they can see in it. The material is spiritualized, and the spirit is materialized.… 

The Spirit is especially intense in music. Sounds are invisible, unconstrained by space and time, just as no one can limit the action of the Spirit. And the melodies they project lift up and penetrate the soul; in them we find comfort, beauty to cry over, soaring joy. The great evangelical theologian Karl Barth used to say that Mozart took his wonderful melodies from heaven and the Breath (the Holy Spirit).  

Boff writes of the generous nature of the Spirit that is not constrained by human valuation: 

The arts are very much like the Spirit. They are intangible. They are ends in themselves. They have an intrinsic value…. Art, music, and poetry in themselves are priceless. They are unique creations, not serial productions. They are like a gift we give to a loved one, valuable for its own sake. Somehow they escape the limits of time and bring us a foretaste of eternity.   

Inspiration is in the air and settles on people without regard for their skin color, their social background, or their educational level. How many illiterate artists have emerged in [Brazil], in marginal communities, and were never noticed: poets, artisans, painters, singers, musicians, mystics? Boasting is not the Spirit’s way; it is like water that quietly runs along the ground, fills the vessels it is poured into, and always chooses to run downhill.  

That is why the Spirit does not have its own figure, as the Father and the Son do. It is portrayed as a dove, but what is important is the radiant light it gives off. It is the Breath (Spiritus in Latin) that reveals life, sustains life, and renews life in every way.     

The universe and all beings are saturated with Spirit. To recognize its presence in every corner of the cosmos is the work of spirituality, of life in the Spirit. 

We began this series with the scene of Jesus entering his hometown synagogue and reading from the scroll of Isaiah (Luke 4:16-28). He used the Old Testament passage to announce his messianic identity and the nature of his mission to bring justice—the restoration of God’s order. The people of Nazareth were understandably surprised and excited, but Jesus didn’t stop there.He continued by referencing two more stories from the Old Testament. Both were about God’s care for foreigners. During a famine, the prophet Elijah was sent to help a foreign widow rather than to the many widows in Israel. And Elisha only healed Naaman, the Syrian general with leprosy, but never a leper from among God’s own people. After Jesus told these stories, the vibe in the synagogue changed dramatically. “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.” In fact, they drove Jesus from the town and tried to kill him.Why the outrage? The Jews in Jesus’ hometown, like people throughout the land at that time, were extremely zealous about their Jewish identity. After all, they were God’s chosen people, but they were living in humiliation under the oppression of a foreign, pagan empire. That’s why they were so excited when Jesus read the prophetic words from Isaiah. The people expected the Messiah to appear, defeat the Romans, and restore Israel’s rightful place of glory above every other nation. Their patriotism swelled with hope. By referencing the story of Naaman, however, Jesus burst their nationalist bubble. The stories about the widow and Naaman were about God giving preferential care to non-Israelites. Even worse, in Naaman’s story it’s the Israelite, Gehazi, who is cursed by God and given Naaman’s leprosy. In a not-so-subtle rebuke, Jesus was warning his neighbors to not put their hope in their ethnic or national identity but to put their hope in God himself. As Gehazi’s fate showed, simply being an Israelite did not make someone righteous. Just as being a pagan, like Naaman, did not condemn someone to a fate beyond God’s mercy. Jesus was warning his neighbors that their arrogance and hatred of the Romans would lead them to the same fate as Gehazi and that God’s messianic blessing would instead be given to gentiles like Naaman. The people of Nazareth understood Jesus’ message and were furious. The idea that Israel’s God would show kindness to pagans, to foreigners, and heaven forbid to Romans!—was unacceptable and insulting. And yet, the reversal of fortune seen at the end of Naaman’s story is precisely what we see unfold in the gospels. For example, like Naaman the Syrian general, it was a Roman centurion whose faith Jesus praised. “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith” (Matthew 8:10). When he arrived in Jerusalem, it was not the pagan foreigners Jesus cursed and rejected, but the religious leaders of Israel just as Elisha had cursed and rejected Gehazi. And it was not the occupying armies of Rome that Jesus cleansed from the city, but the Jewish merchants and moneychangers in the Temple courts.Like Gehazi, the Jews of Jesus’ day believed they were guaranteed God’s blessings because of their identity. And they believed that gentiles, like Naaman and the Romans, were forever beyond the reach of God’s love and mercy. They were wrong on both counts. The story of Naaman and the gospels reveal that judging anyone—including ourselves—based simply on their national, ethnic, or even religious identity is proof that we do not know the heart of God. DAILY SCRIPTURE MATTHEW 8:5-13  2 KINGS 5:1-27 WEEKLY PRAYERfrom Basil of Caesarea (330 – 379) May the Father of the true light—who has adorned day with heavenly light, who has made the fire shine which illuminates us during the night, who reserves for us in the peace of a future age a spiritual and everlasting light—enlighten our hearts in the knowledge of truth, keep us from stumbling, and grant that we may walk honestly as in the day. Thus we will shine as the sun in the midst of the glory of the saints. Amen.

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