If a child is thirsty, a parent will get them a drink and not a toy to play with. Or if a child is hungry, a parent will get some food and not a book to read. Using the same analogy Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit: ‘Which of you fathers, if your child asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?’ God is our Father and the greatest gift we have received is the Holy Spirit.
The question is, though: are we a people of the Holy Spirit? Does the Holy Spirit feature in the way that we think and act? Do we rely on, trust and turn to the Holy Spirit during our day? Next time you face a challenge, a really difficult situation; observe who you turn to first – yourself or the Holy Spirit? And there as Shakespeare might say, is ‘the rub’. Because the Spirit was given not simply to be with us when we are in a tight spot, struggling or in desperate need – the Spirit was given so that we would walk with God in fellowship and communion.
We are in fellowship with the Spirit in a unique way when we read or hear the word of God in the Sacred Scriptures, because the Bible is the Holy-Spirit inspired Word. We encounter the Holy Spirit in the liturgy of the Church and especially when we celebrate the Eucharist. The Spirit is with us when we pray and when we strive to live not in our own strength but in his power. We are people of the Holy Spirit and it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we proclaim Jesus as Lord. The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, our Counsellor and our Friend.
‘The Holy Spirit longs to find the gates of our heart, so that he may enter in and dwell there, and sanctify it; and he goes round about to all the gates to see where he may enter.’ (Ephraim the Syrian)
