Pentecost Sunday 19.5.13 Come, Holy Spirit
When Our Lord promises to send the Holy Spirit it is to complete the process of revelation, so that we will possess God more fully. We always need more of God than we have.
Now He is ascending He will raise us to a higher level whereby we will be able to call upon God in a more intimate and a more powerful degree. This is the ‘internet’ of the spiritual world – instant access to God Himself.
Come Holy Spirit, we say, and He will come. That prayer will always be answered. He reserves the right to come in His own way according to each person and circumstance, but He certainly is willing to come.
When we ask Him to come we are flying blind: we must ask on His terms not ours. Come, re-arrange my life, direct me, use me in Your plans. I surrender proprietary rights over my life. Dispose of me as Thou wilt.
We cannot ask for just a little bit of divinity, just enough to solve my present problems.
We give God a blank cheque; He can write His own figure.
This is an interactive exchange not just a passive reception on our part.
Imagine a bottle being filled with liquid. Now, if you could imagine the bottle, once full, getting up and doing things. That is what happens to us. We are active containers, not just passive.
Then, imagine as the bottle fills up it expands and can take more of the liquid as it is receiving it. This is also what happens to us. The Holy Spirit will use us all the more as our capacity to receive Him increases.
Our capacity increases because we come to trust Him more, and desire Him more. We seek Him more eagerly and He comes more readily.
This is unexplored territory - what each of us can be, and what the Church can be. We could have progressed long ago but we have not prayed enough and not trusted enough.
We face the temptation always to limit God, as we hang on to the status quo, and say, Thus far and no further. All the while He is inviting us (without forcing us) to give ourselves into His hands, to make us into something great.
If we want to stay mediocre that is what will happen.
It is best to be as open as possible, not letting our fear restrict His influence.
This is much harder in one sense than just staying at a comfortable level of non-commitment, but also much happier. It is a real adventure story as we deal with this process.
All of this the apostles in the upper room discovered. They did not know what they would receive but they were ready to receive it.
One person in that room had already received the Holy Spirit, and that was Mary. She also had things to learn in the future, but in terms of union with God she was already perfect.
She helped the others, and she helps us now, to be more confident in yielding ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit. She enables the grace that will open our closed hearts.
It is very hard to open our own blockages, but if we at least expose ourselves to the grace the rest will follow.
We await the Holy Spirit. We have received Him but we always need more. May the whole Church and the whole world receive Him, as He deserves and needs to be received.
No comments:
Post a Comment