Come Holy Spirit! Kindle in us the Fire of your Love!

On the day of Pentecost tongues of fire came to rest on each one of those gathered in the Upper Room. Every believer is generously imparted with the life-changing gift of the Holy Spirit to do the earth-shaking work of God!
In order to carry out this essential role then, we need two things: Power and Willingness. We celebrate today that God has granted us the power, The Holy Spirit. But we must be willing to surrender to it and be purged by it if we are ever to know the depths of God’s presence in our midst. First, there’s surrender. Christian living begins with a humble acknowledgement: I can’t… but God can. I can’t save myself or anyone else, but God can. I can’t change the world, but he can. I am weak but he is strong. I know only a little, he knows all. He is the Shepherd, and I must listen and follow. His will trumps mine.

Then there is the need to be purged by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is described as fire, but He’s is no ordinary fire. On Mount Sinai, Moses encountered a burning bush… sort of. It was on fire…. but it was not being consumed! Like gold in a furnace, the fire purifies but does not destroy the gold. The only thing the fire destroys is everything that is not authentically gold. In the same way, opening your hearts to the Fire of the Holy Spirit will purge everything that is not authentically YOU! The pure YOU will be the result. That is, you, without the paralyzing fears, the longtime resentments, the crippling emotional wounds, the enslaving addictions, the selfish attitudes, and the out-of-control ego.

When we surrender to the Spirit of God and allow him to work on us and purge us of that which hinders our ability to grow in faith then we discover the experience of Pentecost for ourselves just as Paul described it in his Letter to the Romans: “…the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (5:5). You see, our God is not only a Consuming Fire (Hebrews 12:29) but a Perfect Love (1 John 4:16-18).

© Father Patrick A Smith 2013

On this Feast of the Ascension of Christ into heaven we proclaim definitively that Jesus is in charge! He is Lord. He has all authority and power and say. And one other thing: He is our Friend! We must wake up and be conscious and aware of the fact that at every moment that He who sits at God’s right hand also dwells here with us! He is the Head and we are His Body and as the Brain of this operation he needs a Body that takes orders from him with full trust and without hesitation! We, the Body, cannot exist apart from the Head. We cannot fulfill our mission to be Christ’s hands and feet; his heart and presence to a needy world if we are not awake and willing to cooperate with his purpose, his will and his Spirit.

Aware of Christ’s presence we must then step up by taking action to confront our fears, our weaknesses, and any other obstacles which prevent us from fully embracing his call to be the husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, students, citizens, teachers, mentors, advocates, ministers, religious, parish members, witnesses to the resurrection and children of God that we have been called to be. Christ’s ascension says that He has conquered all of our adversaries, and that we can experience victory over them as well!

Having been emboldened to step up and face our fears, we must then accept the challenge to move out of our comfort zones and safe routines and do something our parents taught us never to do: Go looking for trouble! Those who possess the cure must seek out the diseased. The healer must pursue the wounded. Light must go where it is needed most: the dark places. Mercy must searches for those in need of forgiveness. And those who know that they are blessed must seek out those who believe they are cursed and forsaken by God. They need the Truth that will set them free and therefore need the Church to wake up, step up and move out to see that they receive it.

© Father Patrick A Smith 2013

The law of intimacy in relationships is that you are either moving closer together or drifting apart. So, no relationships are stagnant. Relationships happen between living, breathing beings that are never frozen in one state. Our relationship with God is no different in the sense that it is a dynamic reality requiring our constant and deliberate attention, care, nurturing, energy and investment. This is what makes it exciting! The only way to be bored with God is to stand outside of Him; to be disengaged and to keep your distance. Clearly, God is not bored with us!

God so loved us that he chose NOT to keep his distance or stay outside of our world. No, he chose to engage us in a most dramatic and unprecedented way: He began to speak to humanity in what would turn out to be the most amazing conversation in history with the most dramatic consequences imaginable. God would utter just one Word and the universe would never be the same again. This Word that was present at the beginning when the world was created (John 1:1) is also the Word that was spoken to Moses and the prophets (Luke 24). It is the same Word that became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). The Word is Jesus and he speaks with nothing less than the authority and power of God Himself. In today’s Gospel, this is what he says: “Whoever loves me will keep my word… whoever does not love me does not keep my words…” (John 14:23, 24). Keeping God’s word is the way we stay close to him. Ignoring it is the equivalent of “keeping out distance”!

We must no longer look at the bible as a document to be studied but a Word to be encountered and a Savior to be embraced! St. Jerome who spent much of his life painstakingly translating the entire bible into Latin said this: “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ”. Jesus said that when we “keep” his word, he and the Father make their dwelling place within us. And it is for this reason that we are able to heed Christ’s advice to “not let your hearts be troubled or afraid”. Why fear when God dwells in you?

© Father Patrick A Smith 2013

To be a disciple of Jesus not only means to put him first in our lives but to place our lives at the service of His Father’s plan. The first disciples after Pentecost certainly saw no greater purpose to serve or greater cause for which to live and even die than the cause of being a witness to Christ’s resurrection.

But is it so clear today? Do our lives, relationships, plans, priorities, and cares as disciples of Jesus make it clear where our ultimate loyalties lie? To best answer this question we should look at what it means to be a disciple. Four characteristics come to mind: A disciple studies, prays, practices and obeys. Study – people first encountered Jesus as a Rabbi or Teacher of the Law. Those who were impressed became his pupils or students. Good students study. This involves setting aside time and making a serious commitment; even working out a schedule. How well do you know the bible or the Catechism of the Catholic Church? Prayer – this may come as a surprise but the disciple does not learn primarily from what the Rabbi teaches but from how the Rabbi lives. Therefore the goal of a sincere disciple was not simply to know the masters teaching but to know the Master. There is no communion without communication; no friendship without honest conversation; no intimate relationship between the disciple and Jesus Christ without prayer. Practice – the true disciple, just like the serious piano student, does not learn primarily from hearing but by imitation of the Master. Charity, service, selflessness, sacrifice, forgiveness are only mastered by constant practice! Finally, Obedience – for the disciple the word “obey” is a word with four letters but not a “four-letter word”! Obedience is liberating not stifling; a source of peace, not anxiety. It is also the only compelling evidence to the Master Teacher that his teaching mission has been successfully accomplished! This is why Jesus said that “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15). For when we do then all will know the One to whom we belong!

© Father Patrick A Smith 2013

Before there was the joy of Easter there was the heart-break of the crucifixion. Jesus had eerily predicted before his death that they “will strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter” (Matthew 26:31). And so it happened. The disciples ran off and hid; found a place to huddle in fear, shock and despair. However in the first reading today, we see the disciples in a completely different light: They react to being persecuted and expelled from the synagogue in a very different way than before: “The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit!” It seems that in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles whenever we read of the apostles being “scattered” or driven out of one location it just seems to be an opportunity to for the Holy Spirit get the Good News of the Gospel out to even more people in the surrounding territories! Fear and despair are no longer present – at all!

How would you be different if you saw the crisis and setbacks that occur in your life as opportunities for God to do something great, new, and unprecedented in your life? How would your life be different if you knew with certainty that you will never have to face any situation all by yourself ever again? How would your outlook of the future be different if you were convinced that an all-powerful, all-loving and most-willing Shepherd would be there to meet you and see you through every step of the way? How much more willing would you be to place your life in God’s hands; subject your plans to God’s will; offer your talents for God’s service or entrust your heart to God’s mercy? How much richer, fuller and happier would your life be if you dared to believe that the risen Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is not only good, but the very best at supplying your needs and setting your free? Make the decision today to follow the voice of the Shepherd and find out what you have been missing!

© Father Patrick A Smith 2013

Have you opened your Easter gift yet? Come on, it’s been two weeks already! That’s right; we are two weeks into our 50-day celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! But for some of us, maybe the party hasn’t even gotten started! For some, THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE! For others, it’s just Monday or some other day of the week. After all, Easter Sunday didn’t change the fact that the bills are still coming due at the end of the month or that you are still out of work. It didn’t change the fact that your marriage is on the brink of collapse; or that your child is suffering from depression; or your spouse is chemically addicted or that your aging parent is becoming too much for you to handle.

The attitude of the apostles was no different at first. Despite the fact that Jesus appeared to them on Easter morning – an event that they would never forget – they simply returned to their ordinary jobs as if just to get on with life. This is precisely where Jesus found them when he appeared to them again: out on the boat fishing… and catching nothing! There they were, doing what they always did….and getting what they always got: very little. God had to have had more in mind than this! He certainly did.

The gift God leaves for you every Easter is the gift of life-changing FAITH! It’s a gift that is largely left unopened! But that can change this year. Faith in the God who can do for you what you could never do for yourself: turning an ordinary life into an extraordinary one. So, this Easter dare to believe that he loves you; has forgiven you and will never abandon you. Dare to believe that he is both willing and able turn your life around and your world right-side-up. Dare to trust God enough to do what he tells you so that like the apostles you can discover that there is an abundance that awaits you on the right side of the boat that you never knew on the other side of unbelief.

© Father Patrick A Smith 2013

You have probably heard the famous quote from the English poet Alexander Pope: “To err is human; to forgive, divine”. There’s a lot of wisdom packed into this statement. It takes a big person – a divinely inspired one – to forgive. It also takes a big person to admit that he or she has done wrong. Yet the regular admission of faults and subsequent forgiving of those faults is a central ingredient of being a Christian community. In fact these are the ingredients of any healthy community. Imperfect sinners could never live united for very long without finding an effective way to deal with each other’s faults and weaknesses. No forgiveness means no enduring friendships; no lasting marriages; divided communities, warring nations, broken families, unstable churches; and, in the end, no hope for salvation.

If there was to be any hope for us mercy-deprived people, divine intervention was in order. Jesus Christ was God’s solution to the dilemma and Divine Mercy was the prescription he brought with him. “Peace be with you! “ These were his very first words to a broken community that had been violently stripped of that peace when Jesus was taken from them. “Peace be with you!” He said again to those who were in the grip of regret, shame and guilt for running away from him when they should have been running toward him in his neediest hour. Divine Mercy is Christ’s resurrection gift to us to fully embrace. It is also his great mission for us to freely share.

If forgiveness is divine, then when sinners begin doing it, all will know that the Divine One is present in their midst – not because they SAY he is – but because they SEE he is! And this is the heart of ministry. Ministry is the means by which we show people the Jesus we proclaim by doing the things he did: teaching, preaching, healing, serving, loving, forgiving, obeying, sacrificing and caring the way he did. When we do this, the doubting Thomas’s who left the Church because they thought Jesus was no longer there return to discover that he never left!

© Fr. Patrick A. Smith 2013

It is very easy for church-going folk to forget how utterly incredible the message of Easter is. First we acknowledge that Jesus Christ was really crucified, died and buried. Then we emphatically claim that on the third day he walked out of that grave! Furthermore we insist, over 20 centuries later, that He is actually here with us today!

As I re-read these words it is natural to wonder how is it that millions of people have made this extraordinary proclamation for over two millennia and that millions more have actually believed it! The reason is as simple as it is profound: While the claim of resurrection is itself unbelievable, the impact that the Risen Savior has had on the lives of those making the claim was undeniable! In other words, the key to the credibility of the early Church’s proclamation that Jesus Christ was alive again was their transformed lives!

But if this was true of the early Church’s proclamation of the resurrection then it must also be true of the Church today as well! We, the community of believers MUST let the Risen Christ heal us, save us, free us, and change us! We must let him touch us, bless us, forgive us and save us. For it is precisely when people see that he has healed the incurable in us, fixed the hopelessly broken in us, and shattered the unbreakable chains or our addiction to sin and selfishness, then, and only then will our incredible claim become a compelling testimony! When the impact of the Risen One on our lives is undeniable, then the miracle of faith will have already begun in others. It will be precisely your life that God is using to remove all doubt. What was once an incredible claim will now be just stating the obvious! Happy Easter!

© Fr. Patrick A. Smith 2013