Wednesday March 21, 2007
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
March 21, 2007
“The Lord is near to all who call upon him.”
Psalm 145:17
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Imagine yourself as a cup of milk. It can be no-fat, low-fat, two percent, whole or whatever- just a plain-jane glass of milk. This is how you are born- as a glass of white milk. Then comes the day of your baptism. To represent what happens in your baptism, imagine at least one-half inch of chocolate syrup is poured into you, the white cup of milk. All the liquid chocolate falls to the bottom and settles. You, the cup of milk, look basically like the same white cup of milk as before. But now there is rich, sweet chocolate deposit in you. Let us call that chocolate the Holy Spirit.
Sadly and to our own spiritual detriment it seems that the chocolate lays dormant at the bottom of our cups. Here we have the rich and sweet chocolate of the Holy Spirit in us but we remain an unaffected white glass of milk. We could become a sweet and God-rich Christian but the Holy Spirit, for whatever reason, is inactive in our lives. If we do not know the Holy Spirit and see his action in our lives, then God will seem far away.
The Holy Spirit is key to the whole Christian life. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, gives us the power to personally know God. The only way we can know who God is, what he is about and that he is near to us is through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was sent out at Pentecost and makes Jesus present in every time and every place. Remember, twenty four-hours a day, seven days a week, just like 7-11 convenience stores, Jesus is near to us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Why does God feel so far off for so many? Why is the chocolate of the Holy Spirit useless at the bottom of the cup? What are we going to do with this sweet, rich deposit that is unstirred, unused and ineffective in our lives? What if we sought to stir it up? What if we dedicated our lives to knowing how truly sweet and rich it is? What if we came to know that the God who created, loves, saves, forgives, and blesses the whole universe lives inside you and me? The Good News is that we can know and God wants us to know and this will all happen through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Why do I say that the key to Christianity is knowing the Holy Spirit? Because the Holy Spirit gives us the power to know God and leads us into all truth. The Holy Spirit is the key that unlocks the infinite mystery of God. And either the chocolate is stirred up and we know we are sharing in that mystery or it lays dormant and we feel a million miles away from God.
Thus, let us use all in our power to come to know the Holy Spirit! Stir into flame the gift you have received in baptism. Pray about the Holy Spirit. Pray that the Holy Spirit may be awakened and stirred up in your life. Have other people pray over you that you might know the life and passion and power of the Holy Spirit. Go to a Life in the Spirit Seminar. Read and learn about the Holy Spirit. Go to someone who you see is filled with the Holy Spirit and ask them how to get there. The way to draw near to our God of life and passion is to know who the Holy Spirit is.
Live the confronted life!
+Fr. John
Sadly and to our own spiritual detriment it seems that the chocolate lays dormant at the bottom of our cups. Here we have the rich and sweet chocolate of the Holy Spirit in us but we remain an unaffected white glass of milk. We could become a sweet and God-rich Christian but the Holy Spirit, for whatever reason, is inactive in our lives. If we do not know the Holy Spirit and see his action in our lives, then God will seem far away.
The Holy Spirit is key to the whole Christian life. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, gives us the power to personally know God. The only way we can know who God is, what he is about and that he is near to us is through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was sent out at Pentecost and makes Jesus present in every time and every place. Remember, twenty four-hours a day, seven days a week, just like 7-11 convenience stores, Jesus is near to us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Why does God feel so far off for so many? Why is the chocolate of the Holy Spirit useless at the bottom of the cup? What are we going to do with this sweet, rich deposit that is unstirred, unused and ineffective in our lives? What if we sought to stir it up? What if we dedicated our lives to knowing how truly sweet and rich it is? What if we came to know that the God who created, loves, saves, forgives, and blesses the whole universe lives inside you and me? The Good News is that we can know and God wants us to know and this will all happen through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Why do I say that the key to Christianity is knowing the Holy Spirit? Because the Holy Spirit gives us the power to know God and leads us into all truth. The Holy Spirit is the key that unlocks the infinite mystery of God. And either the chocolate is stirred up and we know we are sharing in that mystery or it lays dormant and we feel a million miles away from God.
Thus, let us use all in our power to come to know the Holy Spirit! Stir into flame the gift you have received in baptism. Pray about the Holy Spirit. Pray that the Holy Spirit may be awakened and stirred up in your life. Have other people pray over you that you might know the life and passion and power of the Holy Spirit. Go to a Life in the Spirit Seminar. Read and learn about the Holy Spirit. Go to someone who you see is filled with the Holy Spirit and ask them how to get there. The way to draw near to our God of life and passion is to know who the Holy Spirit is.
Live the confronted life!
+Fr. John
posted by Patti @ 6:17 AM
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