Weekly THIS AND THAT for March 22, 2009: Living in the Holy Spirit -- Week 4

This and That:
Living in the Holy Spirit – Week 4

Over four weeks ago we started our journey of conversion with St. Paul. In the first week we reflected on the personal quality of Paul’s conversion. His encounter with Christ transformed his life. He looked on his former life without Christ as, “rubbish” when compared to his new life with Christ. By God’s grace, Paul becomes a new creation, “everything has become new!” While our conversion might not seem as dramatic or quick as Paul’s we need to remember that God is always working in our lives. God continues to give us the grace that will transform our lives.

In the second week we learned about the “covenantal” dimension of Paul’s spirituality. In our Baptism we receive God’s sanctifying grace. This grace brings us into a new relationship with God and one another. In a sense we can call being saved and justified effort – less. “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” Paul reminds us we do not need to save and justify ourselves before God will accept us. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is a gift from God.”

In the third week we discovered the “cruciform” dimension to Paul’s spirituality. For Paul the cross and Christ are inseparable. Paul calls Christ crucified, “the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Similar to Paul, the crosses in our lives help us grow in our faith. With grace we can allow our disappointments, illnesses and setbacks to work together to draw us closer to God.

Last week we encountered the “Spirit” dimension of Paul’s spirituality. In Paul’s time people maintained a lively sense of spirits that were working in their world. For instance spirits could be responsible for illnesses both physical and mental. For Paul the Spirit was not just any old spirit. Instead the Spirit that Paul writes about comes from God. Today we call this Spirit the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. We use a variety of signs and symbols to represent the Spirit; the waters of Baptism, the tongues of fire at Pentecost, the dove descending on Jesus and the breath of God. Sometimes we can get lost in these symbols and think that the Spirit is not a person. Paul’s insights into the Spirit will help us get past any of these misunderstandings.

Given to us at our Baptism and renewed in us at our Confirmation, the Spirit gives us the divine force, the spiritual engine, we need to live our new life in Christ, our life in the Spirit. Not some external or distant force, for Paul the Spirit is part of our very being. “Poured into our hearts” the Spirit guides us, walks with us, empowers us and enlightens us. We can clearly recognize the Spirit’s work in us during our retreat. As we grow in our love of God and one another, develop a deeper understanding of Paul’s and our own conversion and gain new insights into Scripture, we know that it is the Spirit working in our lives that is accomplishing this good work in us.

In first Corinthians Chapter twelve, Paul offers a “variety of gifts” given through the Spirit. Paul’s list of gifts (charisma) includes; words of knowledge, words of wisdom, works of healing and miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits and tongues. We might see some of these gifts operating when watching on TV or attending prayer services. In some cases the person exercising the gift may draw all our attention and we can lose sight of the Giver of these gifts. Or we may think that Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s gifts are only for a select few. However Paul reminds us that all the charisma are for the “common good” and “building up of the body.” Every sacrament is a moment to experience the gifts of the Spirit working in our lives. In the Eucharist we call upon the Spirit to transform our simple gifts of bread and wine into the eternal gift of Christ’s real presence. Now it is hard to get more charismatic than that! These Spirit gifts are also part of our everyday life. Romans, Paul tells us that the Spirit comes to our aid during our prayer. We all experience situations that seem to overwhelm us to the point where we do not know how to pray. Yet in these moments the Spirit comes to our aid and “intercedes with inexpressible groaning.”

Lastly Paul calls us to allow the Spirit’s work in our lives to manifest itself in a very real and tangible way. Paul calls this expression of the Spirit in our lives, the fruit of the Spirit. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” As we read this list we cannot help but say to ourselves, “Yes, I would like more of each one of these in my life.” As we live guided by the Spirit and trusting in God, this fruit becomes part of our lives and a natural expression of the ongoing work of the Spirit. May we all keep our eyes open and hearts ready for the Spirit as the Holy Comforter and Divine Counselor draws us closer to God and to one another.

Deacon Lee Benson