Pentecost - Holy Spirit is the Author!

 We have color-coordinated tape through the church this weekend in honor of Pentecost. This church decoration, which won’t be here next weekend, is required this weekend for the final time. In the next days we will have carpet down and we will be ready to roam free once again, and we can hopefully say farewell to all of the dust for good!

The Holy Spirit is the sanctifier. This is the one who makes us into saints. Thus we can say that the whole work of the Trinity is summarized well in this phrase: The Father sends His Son to give us the Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the goal of God’s work, and the beginning of our journey home. Our mission, which started at Baptism when the Holy Spirit was poured into our hearts, is quite an adventure when we embrace it.
Imagine if you tried to write a book about your own life all by yourself: You the author and you’re the main character. Depending on your abilities it might be bad, might be tolerable, or even quite enjoyable.
But what if the best writer in the world was also your close friend, and that person helped you to write the story? Do you think you would like it better? I imagine you might not only because it has better structure, literary style, and powerful imagery, but perhaps above all because of the fact that many of those ideas were not your own. The fact that you could sit back and admire at how things went in directions you didn’t plan or expect - that appreciation for the beauty of the story of your own life would make it more beautiful, and thus you would like it much more.
The Christian life is precisely that: letting the Holy Spirit, who knows us better than we know ourselves, be the co-author, and indeed primary author, of our stories.
To appreciate this, I ask you to consider finding online and reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s short story: Leaf by Niggle. I don’t want to spoil it, but I will simply say that it is one of the most beautiful short stories I have ever heard. I pray you enjoy it.
Don’t be afraid of letting the Holy Spirit lead and guide your life. He will make you a saint. He will lead you to heaven. He will write a beautiful story.

sunday homily - 6th Sun. of Easter

 Peter baptizes "gentiles" (non-Jews), because "the Lord has revealed to the nations His saving power." Throughout the Old Testament this promise has waited, for God to bless all peoples through Israel, through the Jewish people. Now in Christianity, this is true. 

Baptized into Christ, we are transformed by His gift of love. We die to this world, we enter the tomb with Him and come out with Him transformed. Thus we have a "new" commandment: to love as He loves us. In keeping this commandment, we are friends of Jesus and He begins to live in us. Baptism allows this process to begin for us, and the only requirement for us to be open to the salvation God has given us is to truly live this new commandment. "No greater love than to lay down your life for one's friends." Jesus thought we were worth dying for. We are His friends. Will we show Him the same love back? What way do you need to "lay down your life" for Jesus? 

Your king loves you deeply. All He wants is your love. Will you deny him?