A Pentecost Thought About God Dwelling Within Us at Work - Part 2
One thing about God dwelling within us, even at work: this applies when we're in the state of grace. Just wanted to get that out there. Which, of course, reminds us why regular confession must be part of our normal way of living in this world or ours - at least if you exercise some degree of prudence in how you conduct your life. Just saying.
Last time we began talking, as part of our preparation for Pentecost, which arrives Sunday, about God dwelling within us . Since it's one of the greatest feasts of the Liturgical Year, we don't want to just let it slip by like so many other days of our lives, do we? Of course not. And thus today we will dive a little deeper into this idea of God dwelling within us, because that's what happened on that first Pentecost. God, the Holy Spirit, descended on Christ's disciples in the upper room. You remember the scene, right?
Yet, after all this, and after two millennia of constant teaching by our Holy Mother the Church, some of us, maybe most of us, here and now may wonder just how to understand this. Does God really dwell within us? What could this possibly mean? Count me in this crew. That's why I spend time each day reading Scripture and studying my faith, something I didn't always do, but that I now couldn't live without doing.
I hope you do too, because if you do you will know that God dwells within all of us not in some vague way, but in each one of us, individually. You will know that the descent of the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost, which we remember in a special way on Pentecost Sunday every year, applies not only to Our Lord's first disciples, but to each and every one of us. Along with this, you will also know that not only does God's Holy Spirit helps us not merely to understand the truths of our Faith, of which this is one, but everything, everywhere, all the time - yes, even at work.
And so this means that each and every day, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, we can and should turn to the Holy Spirit and seek His counsel. We can and should know that we can rely on Him for help no matter what difficulties we may face. And we don't need to wait until we face a crisis. If we only develop the habit of turning to Him throughout the day, in the smallest, simplest matters, we will have begun to live in the light of the reality that, as Pentecost reminds us, God dwells within us.
Next time we will see a stunning example of what it might look like if we were to really live our lives in the light of this awesome reality.
Last time we began talking, as part of our preparation for Pentecost, which arrives Sunday, about God dwelling within us . Since it's one of the greatest feasts of the Liturgical Year, we don't want to just let it slip by like so many other days of our lives, do we? Of course not. And thus today we will dive a little deeper into this idea of God dwelling within us, because that's what happened on that first Pentecost. God, the Holy Spirit, descended on Christ's disciples in the upper room. You remember the scene, right?
And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place: And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak. (Acts 2: 1-4)We saw in the last few posts how the disciples - even after living with Our Lord for almost three years, even after Our Lord spending time with them for 40 days after His Resurrection - still did not really understand the fullness of the Truth He had taught them. So this is what it took for the Truth to finally sink in: the descent of His Holy Spirit. But that Holy Spirit did not merely descend upon them for a few moments and "inspire" them in this extraordinary fashion. The Holy Spirit - the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, God Himself - remained with them, more accurately, within them.
Yet, after all this, and after two millennia of constant teaching by our Holy Mother the Church, some of us, maybe most of us, here and now may wonder just how to understand this. Does God really dwell within us? What could this possibly mean? Count me in this crew. That's why I spend time each day reading Scripture and studying my faith, something I didn't always do, but that I now couldn't live without doing.
I hope you do too, because if you do you will know that God dwells within all of us not in some vague way, but in each one of us, individually. You will know that the descent of the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost, which we remember in a special way on Pentecost Sunday every year, applies not only to Our Lord's first disciples, but to each and every one of us. Along with this, you will also know that not only does God's Holy Spirit helps us not merely to understand the truths of our Faith, of which this is one, but everything, everywhere, all the time - yes, even at work.
And so this means that each and every day, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, we can and should turn to the Holy Spirit and seek His counsel. We can and should know that we can rely on Him for help no matter what difficulties we may face. And we don't need to wait until we face a crisis. If we only develop the habit of turning to Him throughout the day, in the smallest, simplest matters, we will have begun to live in the light of the reality that, as Pentecost reminds us, God dwells within us.
Next time we will see a stunning example of what it might look like if we were to really live our lives in the light of this awesome reality.
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