READ
Galatians
5:22
Witness
I went to a Charismatic prayer
meeting once and a rather over-enthusiastic neighbour tried
to ‘slay me in the Spirit’ by physically pushing me backward
with her hand on my forehead. I was rather suspicious of the
Holy Spirit after that and not certain it was the genuine article!
Later I went on a parish retreat, my father and my mother had
recently died and I was a rather withdrawn unhappy nineteen
year old. The priest offered to pray over me. I wasn’t too keen,
but could not be bothered to argue. As he put his hands on my
head I felt the Spirit surge through me. If filled me with physical
and spiritual energy and they could not shut me up!
The Spirit came into me in Baptism, I
accepted the Spirit, and I confirmed my reception of that gift in
Confirmation. Now I let the Spirit grow in me. Because of the Spirit
I live in Jesus, in him I live and move and have my being.
The Lord will
make my life a tree that will bear fruit. The list of the fruits
of the Spirit (which most of us know half by heart) comes easy,
too easy; try asking yourself if you would prefer the opposite?
Indifference
-
or love
Weariness –
or
joy
Restless anger
-
or
peace
Impatience
–
or patience
Cruelty
–
or kindness
Senselessness
–
or goodness
Unreliability
–
or faithfulness
Harshness –
or
gentleness
Up for grabs –
or self-control
The left hand
list is what in varying degrees and at different times we all have.
The right hand list is what we would all soberly prefer - at least
in our best friends.
Let us pray
Lord let your Spirit come to flower in our lives,
so that we can bear fruit that will last
through Christ Our Lord.
Amen.