In Him We Live

In Him We Live

May 8, 2013

Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Easter

By Colleen O'Sullivan

“… that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us.  For ‘In him we live and move and have our being…”   (Acts 22:27-28a)

Jesus said to his disciples, “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of Truth, he will guide you to all truth.  He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.  He will glorify me because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.  Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”    (John 16:12-15)

Piety

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love.  Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created.  And You shall renew the face of the earth. 

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolations.  Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

(Traditional prayer to the Holy Spirit)

Study

When I was growing up, a couple of times a year my parents would take us to the Philadelphia Zoo.  I remember one such visit vividly.  My brother, about 6 years old at the time, was totally engrossed in looking at some deer- or antelope-like creatures.  He got right up to the fence, while the rest of us were standing back a few feet.  When he had seen his fill, he began to run in circles around us, very upset, convinced we had become separated.  He kept calling our names and looking outward, while we were just behind him, trying to let him know we were right there.

And isn’t that the way we are with God sometimes, too?  We run in circles, looking outward, seeking God in the distance, when, as the Apostle Paul reminds the Athenians, God is right there with us.  There’s no need to look beyond wherever we find ourselves at any given moment.  God is there.

Jesus, in today’s Gospel reading, talks to his beloved disciples after their Last Supper together, before they head out to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he will have to leave them.   There is much more Jesus would like to tell them, but the Lord realizes they can’t absorb anything else; they’re already sad and confused and frightened. 

So Jesus promises he will send the Holy Spirit when he is gone, the Spirit of truth.  The Holy Spirit, alive in our hearts, will continue to reveal God’s Kingdom to us, will ever guide us to all truth, and will pick up the discourse where Jesus left off.  The Spirit is the Divine within us which empowers us to be the Church.  There is really no reason to search far and wide for God, because God is always with us.   Look to the innermost depths of your being and you will find the Spirit, continuing to reveal all that the Father and Son want us to see and know.      

Action

Find a quiet place and be still.  Listen with the ear of your heart (Rule of St. Benedict), for you are not alone.  What is the Holy Spirit saying to you today?