Weekly THIS AND THAT for March 11, 2007: The Story of Dry Bones, Yours and Ours

This and That:
Session #3: “The Story of Dry Bones: Yours and Ours

Our topic for consideration this past Friday – “The Story of Dry Bones: Yours and Ours” – was part of the six-week series entitled: “How What We Believe Can Make a Difference.”

Fondly,
Father Nick Amato


The evening began with a consideration of death in the Prophet Ezekiel. For Ezekiel, as for the ancient Hebrews, the body without “ruah,” that is, without breath, air, or wind was considered dead. A living sort of “death” in people we know may be seen as lifelessness, sinfulness, or relationships that bring us down. And when, at times, we feel “dead” is it not because we are without breath – as in out of breath or exhausted? Is it not as if without air – as in the sense of breathing polluted air or thin air? Is it not as if we were without wind – as if the air was stifling, listless, or smothering?

The Followers of Jesus after his passion and death were feeling this same sort of “death.” They were disillusioned with Jesus. Their hopes for Jesus as the promised Messiah were dashed. There was conflict and division among them in their bickering. Add to this the fact that they were fearful of the Jews. Feeling dead for them was feeling adrift, without purpose or hope.

Though these very concrete forms of death surrounded them, they did experience a coming to life. It came in the gathering that we have come to call Pentecost. After that event, the followers of Jesus were transformed. The fear was gone; it have been transformed into a desire to get out there and proclaim good news to a weary world. All the boundaries, chains, inhibitions – call them what you will – were gone! The significance of Pentecost was that it fulfilled, in the disciples of Jesus, the passing over from death to life that had taken place in him. That is to say that in Pentecost the Passover was being fulfilled in the disciples. As if by magic, they are opened up to hear the Word of God. In that very event they came to know the Spirit because the Spirit that dwells in us is the very power of God. In that very event the Spirit helped them in their weakness

Through table sharing, participants that evening came to realize that it was Jesus who had promised to send the Holy Spirit who will lead us to all truth (John 14:26) and each of them shared times when they had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in their own life. Those moments may have been moments of new hope (the Holy Spirit’s gift of fortitude), or as “fresh air” (the Spirit’s gift of understanding), or as a new perception (the Spirit’s gift of knowledge).

At this point all present played “Baltimore Catechism” and who could name the Seven-Fold Gifts of the Holy Spirit? (Don’t peek; the answers are on the last page of this bulletin.) If you got those correct, do you remember any of the 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit? (Again, don’t peak, till you give the question a try.)

We believe that the Church possesses the fullness of Christ’s Spirit. In contrast to ourselves, who possess the Spirit at times, Christ was always filled with the Holy Spirit. And because the Church is his Body, the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church. “Just how is the power of the Spirit at work in the Church?” you may ask. After his Resurrection and Ascension, and after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Christ became present in the world by being manifested in the Church, which becomes the Sacrament of his presence. And through the Church-Presence-of-Christ, the Spirit does three important things: (1) It has the power to draw us. (2) It has the power to manifest Jesus Christ to us. (3) It has the power to bring us into communion.

This powerful presence of The- Church-Presence-of-Christ operates at several levels, namely, the Church as the Local Assembly at Parkton, the Church as the Local Church of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and Church as the Universal Community of Believers. Thus this three-tiered reality of grace draws her life at all three levels from the Word and the Body of Christ and so becomes the living Body of Christ in our world.

Enough for the Church as the reality of presence of Christ! Where do the Sacraments fit in? The seven sacraments, as actions having both a “sacred” and “material” dimension, are powers that come forth from the “Body of Christ.” They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church. Thus what the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, the Church. They are how God becomes manifest and operative.

A second round of table sharing centered on three items for sharing: (1) How we see the Holy Spirit acting in the Body of Believers today? (2) What experiences have most helped us understand the Church as a community, inspired and led by the Holy Spirit? and finally, (3) What charisms or gifts of the Holy Spirit have we been given? How can we use these for the common good?

The topic for next week’s Session 4 is “Differences: Do They Divide or Unite?”


(Answers to questions from “This and That” above)

7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit:
➢ Wisdom
➢ Understanding
➢ Counsel
➢ Fortitude
➢ Knowledge
➢ Piety
➢ Fear of the Lord

12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit:
➢ Charity
➢ Joy
➢ Peace
➢ Patience
➢ Kindness
➢ Goodness
➢ Long Suffering
➢ Mildness
➢ Faith
➢ Modesty
➢ Continence
➢ Chastity