9/26/2019 0 Comments Through thee alone I told the teens at Edge this week that I am super excited for this year of Edge and it's not just because Edge is literally one of my favorite things about my job (although, it is) it's because this year the part of the Trinity that we are focusing on is the Holy Spirit. I think the Holy Spirit is one of the most underrated parts of our faith and I love to talk about the Holy Spirit, if I was only allowed to study one thing about faith, it would be the Holy Spirit, hands down. In short, the Holy Spirit is my jam. (So please forgive me as I nerd out about the Holy Spirit in the next several blogs.)
There's this fantastic hymn called "Come Holy Ghost." It's a classic and you've probably sung it dozens of times in church throughout your life. It has great wisdom to impart about the Holy Spirit, calling him comforter, creator, giver of grace, giver of aid, font of life, fire of love; it affirms him as coequal with the Father and the Son. But there's this great line that always gives me goosebumps when I hear it; it says, "Oh, Holy Ghost through thee alone know we the Father and the Son." Just think about that phrase for a minute. Through thee alone know we the Father and the Son. This song posits that the way we come to know that Father and the Son is through the Holy Spirit. And it makes sense, doesn't it? Jesus tells us in Scripture (see Matthew 14 and John 16) that He is going away where we will no longer be able to see him, but he is calling the Holy Spirit to our sides. He is sending us the one who will never leave us and who will teach us all things about Jesus and God the Father, who will teach us all truth, and who will ultimately teach us about our very selves. To me, this begs the question, when was the last time we called out to the Holy Spirit in prayer? At our Edge Session this week I asked the group to raise their hand if they had ever prayed to the Holy Spirit, several of my catechists raised their hands but that was it. How bizarre is it that our first instinct is not to pray to the part of the Trinity that is literally always with us, the part that we have asked to make his home inside of us, the part that we are gifted in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation? And I'm no different when I start praying my instinct is not to address the Holy Spirit first. My first inclination when I am praying in front of a group or when I am praying by myself at night is to address God the Father. In moments of panic, my first instinct is to call on the Lord Jesus (my mantra always seems to be exactly that, 'Lord Jesus help me,' because when I am panicked I can think of nothing else to say). And while there is certainly nothing wrong with praying to God the Father or to Jesus (and there in a lot about Trinitarian Theology that suggests that when you pray to one you are praying to all three) I still wonder why the Holy Spirit is not the first thought I have for who to pray to. What I believe it boils down to is that I was never really taught to pray to the Holy Spirit or really aware of the Holy Spirit's presence in a tangible way until college when I made friends with some Non-Denominational Christians and found a couple of mentors who were part of the Charismatic renewal in the Catholic church back in the 70's. To my friends and to my mentors, the Holy Spirit was more than a symbol, he was more than fire, more than the cleansing waters of Baptism, more than a dove descending from the clouds (all of those things are true, and they were good answers to the question we posed on Wednesday about what came to mind when we thought of the Holy Spirit). But to them, the Holy Spirit was as real (or perhaps more so in a way) as God the Father and as Jesus because they sought to hear Him and sought to know him. I learned the simple (but remarkably powerful prayer) "Come Holy Spirit" from those people. Every time I pray those three little words I am absolutely astounded by the results. When I say the words "Come Holy Spirit" I can physically feel something settle over me; there is a tangible release to the worries and stress that I am holding onto. If I call on the Holy Spirit before a talk or before a conversation about faith, I am always surprised by the words that come out of my mouth, they are rarely what I had planned but are often exactly what was needed. I could give you dozens of stories about times when the Holy Spirit has reached out and touched me, has changed me, has instructed me (and I'd be glad to sit down and chat over coffee if you're interested in hearing them) but what it boils down to is this, when you open your heart to the Holy Spirit and invite Him in you do not know what will happen. There is a reason we associate the Holy Spirit with fire, and water, and wind; and it's not just about the Sacraments and scripture references. It is because, like fire, water, and wind, there is an element to those things that we cannot control. Fire can burn down structures and forests, water can cause floods and wash everything away, wind can whip through and tear things down. So, too, can the Holy Spirit in our lives. Opening our hearts and inviting the Holy Spirit to come in wreaks havoc on our plans, it tears down our pride and our prejudices, it washes away our unrighteousness, and leaves us vulnerable, without all of the walls we have built up. But it leaves us standing as God has made us to be; an instrument of His love for humankind, a being capable of relationship with him and with one another because when the Holy Spirit enters our hearts he removes the things that stand in the way of relationship. I pray that the Lord blesses you this week and challenge you to pray the words "Come Holy Spirit" and open your heart (even if it's only just a little) to allow him to enter in and move through you. I guarantee you will be amazed by the way He will touch you this week. Peace, Michaela
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