At Pentecost we are asked, just as St. Paul asked, to 'live by the Spirit'. This is were the hard part of faith begins. In Buddhism many Westerners like to sit and mediate a bit, show a bit of mindfulness or even read books by the Dalai Lama and call themselves Buddhists: most Asian Buddhist laypeople let the monks meditate and think that all their 'sin' will be wiped away by the merits gained by supporting them and their meditation. This reminds me of many Catholics i know, namely letting someone else do the leg-work with holiness so that they don't have to change their ways and that sins can merely be bought off. Even typing this, the holes in this wisdom are glaring. No, me thinks, we are asked to lead a holy life because we, each one of us, are meant to become holy! Central to Buddhism's Noble Eightfold Path, which is in short the way one can lead a moral life, is leading a life suitable to calming the mind and thus preparing the mind for enlightenment. Christians too are asked to lead a suitable life in the cultivation of enlightenment. Why lead a holy life?
To live by the Spirit is for me very similar. The priest today told how he was often asked 'if he had received the Spirit'. He had, at baptism, confirmation and at each communion, he answered, but he went on to say that having received the Spirit is different than living in the Spirit. St. Paul says pretty much the same when he encourages us to lead a moral life:
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit (Gal 5:25)
Because we have free will, each one of us has to do the work of walking the Way. That's how free will works. We have to choose to reduce our load of sin by correcting our thoughts, words and actions. We have to choose to be vigilant at each step lest we fall. Persevere in our efforts to get back up and start again. Humble enough to accept God's forgiveness and know that falling is an endearing human quality. Brave enough to face the storms of life and the consequences of our actions. Yet we are never alone when we walk the Way with the Spirit, the Son and the Father: with him and in him and through him, we say before communion. Joy is our reward. Re-union with God is our reward. Knowing the face of Love, enlightenment, is our reward. Experiencing Ultimate Truth is our reward. Why am i hesitating and procrastinating, me thinks?
At mass we were told that the Holy Spirit invites us, compels us, directs us and challenges us to not only become disciples of the Way, but to become apostles. Apostles! The priest truly meant what he was saying: God has shown us through the Resurrection that death has been conquered and through the Ascension that He has exploded into the cosmos; that fear of death can be released and that He is everywhere we look, from sun and stars to flowers and bees; that we all share equally in God's Love and are able to become apostles of Love just as his Son lived His life on Earth.
I smiled. That's what the Holy Spirit is, an invitation to Love as Jesus loved, as God taught us to love, dropping the Self-interest that separates us from Creation and dropping the fears that keep us cowered back and on the defensive, so that we can open our hearts and say 'Yes' just as St. Mary answered His call. In fact we celebrate the Holy Spirit on this holy day, but each day and each moment the Holy Spirit can lead us to the threshold of True Reality, true Love. Will we say 'Yes'? While we shrink back into our private hell of cold isolation, survival of the fittest individual and easily muttered 'No'? Each moment we can say 'Yes' and transform our lives, the lives of others and this world through Love. With God's grace we can always step up to the new life offered and make a difference. A prayer: Please God, if i may ask but for one gift of you, let it be faith so that i might choose You above the world, that i may say 'Yes' instead of sinking back into 'No', that i might finally understand why I AM and act upon it to honour your name and love my neighbour and use the holy flame and light of your Holy Spirit to burn away the deadwood of sin, thus lightening my load, lightening my mind and lightening this world as a beacon for others so that my 'Yes' will be worthy of your faith in me. Amen.
The priest also told an anecdote about a little boy who had visited a Catholic church and beheld the huge stained glassed windows and images of saints which suddenly were filled with radiant sunlight. Impressed, when he got home he told his mother that he had seen many saints and described them as 'people who let the light shine through them'. Enlightened. We are invited to become people who let the light shine through them, to become that which we all truly are, namely beings of light and love. How? By living in and following the Spirit of Love.
Deo gratias.
To live by the Spirit is for me very similar. The priest today told how he was often asked 'if he had received the Spirit'. He had, at baptism, confirmation and at each communion, he answered, but he went on to say that having received the Spirit is different than living in the Spirit. St. Paul says pretty much the same when he encourages us to lead a moral life:
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit (Gal 5:25)
Because we have free will, each one of us has to do the work of walking the Way. That's how free will works. We have to choose to reduce our load of sin by correcting our thoughts, words and actions. We have to choose to be vigilant at each step lest we fall. Persevere in our efforts to get back up and start again. Humble enough to accept God's forgiveness and know that falling is an endearing human quality. Brave enough to face the storms of life and the consequences of our actions. Yet we are never alone when we walk the Way with the Spirit, the Son and the Father: with him and in him and through him, we say before communion. Joy is our reward. Re-union with God is our reward. Knowing the face of Love, enlightenment, is our reward. Experiencing Ultimate Truth is our reward. Why am i hesitating and procrastinating, me thinks?
At mass we were told that the Holy Spirit invites us, compels us, directs us and challenges us to not only become disciples of the Way, but to become apostles. Apostles! The priest truly meant what he was saying: God has shown us through the Resurrection that death has been conquered and through the Ascension that He has exploded into the cosmos; that fear of death can be released and that He is everywhere we look, from sun and stars to flowers and bees; that we all share equally in God's Love and are able to become apostles of Love just as his Son lived His life on Earth.
I smiled. That's what the Holy Spirit is, an invitation to Love as Jesus loved, as God taught us to love, dropping the Self-interest that separates us from Creation and dropping the fears that keep us cowered back and on the defensive, so that we can open our hearts and say 'Yes' just as St. Mary answered His call. In fact we celebrate the Holy Spirit on this holy day, but each day and each moment the Holy Spirit can lead us to the threshold of True Reality, true Love. Will we say 'Yes'? While we shrink back into our private hell of cold isolation, survival of the fittest individual and easily muttered 'No'? Each moment we can say 'Yes' and transform our lives, the lives of others and this world through Love. With God's grace we can always step up to the new life offered and make a difference. A prayer: Please God, if i may ask but for one gift of you, let it be faith so that i might choose You above the world, that i may say 'Yes' instead of sinking back into 'No', that i might finally understand why I AM and act upon it to honour your name and love my neighbour and use the holy flame and light of your Holy Spirit to burn away the deadwood of sin, thus lightening my load, lightening my mind and lightening this world as a beacon for others so that my 'Yes' will be worthy of your faith in me. Amen.
The priest also told an anecdote about a little boy who had visited a Catholic church and beheld the huge stained glassed windows and images of saints which suddenly were filled with radiant sunlight. Impressed, when he got home he told his mother that he had seen many saints and described them as 'people who let the light shine through them'. Enlightened. We are invited to become people who let the light shine through them, to become that which we all truly are, namely beings of light and love. How? By living in and following the Spirit of Love.
Deo gratias.
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