We area people of faith. We want everyone to grow in the awareness that we live our daily lives in the presence of God. The Holy Spirit is living and moving throughout our everyday existence. The presence of the Holy Spirit can be compared to the air we breathe: it is always present although we do not pay much attention to the movement of air currents right around our body.
This Lent, reflect on the movement and the power of the Holy Spirit in your life and in the world.
The Holy Spirit (the very reality of the triune God) has been poured out into your life. When the sacrament of Confirmation was given to you it was a sign that our life was to be a living instrument of the Holy Spirit. Your life was to be given the Holy Spirit, her power and energy, in so many different ways throughout your life. Confirmation was never a one -hot deal! It outlines a vibrant path of life, shaped and moved by the energy of the Holy Spirit.
Be conscious that whenever you are moved to pray (whether it be in words or just in attentiveness) this is always the action of the Holy Spirit. No human being can ever become conscious of the presence of God except in and through the Holy Spirit. So many people born into the Church are amazed when you teach them that prayer is the action of God’s Spirit.
When we are moved to reach out in charity toward our ancient aunt who lives in her dementia in the nursing home, that is the Holy Spirit moving us in compassion and kindness. The Holy Spirit moves in all human beings who reach out in charity towards another person in need. Be they believers or just indifferent secularist, it is still the Holy Spirit moving within their lives.
When we deal creatively with our cousin who can be so negative and down-right racist towards our First Nations peoples, that strength to help him to a better understanding of human dignity is also the movement of the Holy Spirit.
When we have the ‘laying on of hands’ during the Sunday Eucharist, it is also prayer over your own body that you become the body of Christ. Become the Body of Christ in the healing and new understanding you can bring toward some family members who are somewhat alienated from other members of the family. Be the Body of Christ as you take time to listen to your co-worker share their pain over their twenty-nine year old son’s dangerous drug addiction.
The Spirit of God fills the earth. The Spirit of God moves right around our lives like the wind brushes our face. The Holy Spirit is daily present.
The task of our Christian faith is to help us pay attention to the presence of God. Truly we live and breathe in the atmosphere (the world) of the Holy Spirit.
This Lent, grow in your awareness of the Holy Spirit living and moving within your own life.
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