A Pentecost Thought About God Dwelling Within Us - Part 3

With Pentecost now behind us, let's look at an example of what life would be like if the reality of God dwelling within us were to really sink in and manifest itself in our daily lives. I came across this wonderful description of the lives of the early Christians by Archbishop James Leen, C.S.Sp:

Their spiritual gaze, from the very start, was educated to fix itself on God. Their regard was outward and upward before it was turned inward and earthward. The dogma of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their souls was the mental food on which they nourished themselves and developed their spirituality. Their minds were fully penetrated with this most consoling and elevating truth of the Faith; they had received it directly from the lips of the apostles, or from men of the apostolic age, and they proclaimed it proudly before their judges and executioners. This truth was their strength before the tribunals and their consolation in their torments. … Example after example could be cited to show how deeply penetrated with this doctrine of the divine indwelling was the early Christian conscience. This was because they studied Holy Scripture so assiduously. 

First notice "how deeply penetrate with this doctrine of the divine indwelling was the early Christian conscience." They hadn't yet slipped into the "routine" of going to Mass on Sunday, saying some prayers from time to time, and then consigning their spiritual life to some dusty corner of a back room in their minds and hearts.

If you think that our distance from the living memory of the Apostles accounts for our tepid spiritual lives, or if you believe that our secular world prevents you from living openly and vibrantly as a real red-blooded Christian notice that the early Christians weren't only inspired by the fact that they lived within the immediate memory of the Apostles. Archbishop Leen reminds us that it was because "they studied Holy Scripture so assiduously." To do something "assiduously" simply means that we do it with great care and perseverance. Can't we also do this?

Doesn't this simply reinforce the point we make over and over of the importance of reading Sacred Scripture daily? Perhaps a comparison to daily work will help us understand this. Consider the results you achieve when you take care to do your best, when you persevere in attempting to solve problems that don't present obvious, easy solutions. Why wouldn't you read Scripture the same way? And since you know the payoff of applying yourself assiduously to your work, should you expect any lesser payoff by applying yourself assiduously to your study of Sacred Scripture?

Archbishop Leen explains what will we find if we do:

The Sacred Books abound in statements that bear witness to this dogma of Faith. In the epistles of Saint Paul, especially, references are frequent to the ‘Donation,’ or the ‘Mission’ of the Divine Persons to souls in the state of grace. In this he but follows the tradition handed down by the Evangelists. On the eve of His departure from the scenes of His mortal life, our Savior, seeking to comfort His apostles, promised He would send them the Paraclete, to supply for His loss. ‘I tell you the truth,’ He said, ‘it is expedient to you that I go, for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you. … If any man love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him.’

God indeed dwells within us. When we actually live with this knowledge and understanding, we live as the early Christians did, that is as real Christians. Just as we work with care and perseverance to accomplish our goals and objectives at work, shouldn't we also apply the same care and perseverance to our spiritual lives?

Next time, we take one more pass at understanding this awesome reality of God dwelling within us.