“COME HOLY SPIRIT, COME!”

As we enter the month of May, we look to the rest of the Easter season that will culminate with the Ascension of Jesus into heaven and the sending of the Holy Spirit nine days later on Pentecost Sunday, which we will celebrate on May 16^th this year. So, I would like to write this month about the “Power of the Spirit.”

One of the most pressing concerns to confront the modern person is the quest for meaning in our everyday lives. Psychiatrists, psychologists and pastoral counselors indicate that a great majority of those who come for help are seeking meaning in their lives. It is never enough for us to just exist. We need more than food, clothing and shelter. Because we, as humans, have an intellect and spirit, we need to find some meaning or reason for living. Because we are made in the image and likeness of God, we are restless until we find ultimate meaning in our lives. That is, all of our life is a search for God. Until we rest in God, we will continue to be “on the move” going from distraction to distraction.

Life becomes an endless escape. We can escape in our work – we can escape in seeking after pleasure – we can escape in seeking material goods and status. However, this escape is short lived. Eventually we must pay a call on ourselves and see who answers. We must face the kind of person we have become through our free decisions. We must take responsibility for the things and people we have loved and found meaning through them.

The Christian life is just that – a way of life. To be a Christian is a way of living in the world – valuing, judging and finding meaning. To be a Christian is to live out a whole new structure of existence. The old order has lost its power over us. The Christian is not conformed to the world, but labors, through the Spirit, to renew the face of the earth. The Christian life is one that has found meaning – lasting meaning through living a personal and communal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The restlessness and anxieties of the day are not eliminated. The daily struggles and trials are all too present. The daily failures are real. But through all of this the presence of Jesus, through the Spirit, sustains and gives us courage. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the fears and anxieties of daily life have lost their ultimate power. This is the truth that sets us free!

Pray often the words, “Come Holy Spirit, Come!”

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Al Backmann