Easter

Continue to pray the words from Fr. Hans last week: "Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit." We need a renewal of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives in order to be everything that God needs us to be.

As we prepare for the celebration of Pentecost next Sunday, here are three simple words to say over and over again: "Come, Holy Spirit!" When I am comfortable: "Come, Holy Spirit!" When I am afraid: "Come, Holy Spirit!" When I don’t know what to say: "Come, Holy Spirit!" This is how we will be a Faithful Presence and Influencers for Jesus: through the courage and wisdom of the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to say that prayer hundreds of times this week! "Come, Holy Spirit!"

We often think of faith as a comfort and a refuge, and it is. But that’s not the goal of faith. It’s more the by-product. Faith, first and foremost, calls us not to comfort, but to courage. To dare. Sometimes even to risk. And in all of that to trust. God’s love doesn’t protect us from difficulties or shield us from suffering. What it does do is encourage us – literally put the courage into us – to embrace life with hope, painful or frightening as it may be sometimes; to seek out the lost and heal the hurting; to serve God in whatever way He gives us, with the gifts He gives us.   Deacon Brett reads a portion of the poem below at the end of his homily; it is attributed to Sir Francis Drake.

Even though we know absolutely that Jesus loves and knows each of us by name, we also know that he loves everyone throughout the world. Communion is not just about each of us individually and Jesus - it is about Jesus and every person, all of God's people. Communion reminds us that life isn't just about "me" - we see life from God's perspective, as all of creation is connected together in God's grand design.

Say the following out loud: "God has a special place in His heart for me." It’s true. God also has a special place in His heart for each of our family members and friends and so on, but let’s not lose sight of how He loves each of us individually, because He’s able to love all of us that way. Each of us is the most important thing in the world to God, and that’s possible because He’s God. For today, I just want to leave you with this truth: Jesus loves you. Jesus values you more than he values his own life. Jesus treasures you in his heart. Jesus cherishes you. You are the most important thing in the world to Jesus.

All world religions speak in some way about mindfulness, about living lives that are looking beneath the surface and asking, "What's happening on a deeper level? How might God be involved in what's going on?". Take the time to do that in the simple, daily things - like prayer before meals, morning prayer, giving thanks to God in the evening - and don't just do them mechanically. Be really wide open to the beauty around, the beauty within, the people you see, and think about that intermingling of the visible and invisible - that we can be awakened to that deep, spiritual sense that is surrounding and permeating us every moment of our lives.

For those who want to be great Christians, or even just to be pretty good Christians, we can make the choice to pray daily, to put others first regularly, to willingly carry our crosses, and to love all those we meet. Repeated daily choices to follow Jesus will build themselves into habits, creating that 'muscle memory'. Take a moment right now to choose something good you can do in your daily life, and then do it every day this week. It could be prayer or consciously speaking loving words; it could be specific actions towards specific people or something you’ve been putting off. Whatever it is, the key is to start building that Christian Muscle Memory.

It's important to practice an awareness of resurrection. There are signs of resurrection all around us, and we have to make the decision to see those signs in our day-to-day life. We ourselves are "previews" of the resurrection: the way we live, our ordinary acts of kindness and thoughtfulness, and at times those extraordinary moments when we are called to do something heroic for the people around us. Even in the midst of tragedies, we can live with joy and hope because we know that resurrection is real, Jesus is real, and He is present in our world today.   Permission to podcast the music in this episode obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-737156. All rights reserved.