
The One And Only 
It has been said that we only use ten per
cent of our brain. Even though this 10 percent
statistic has no scientific basis, it is
a fact, easily detectable in our everyday
life, that we are making use of only a small
part of our possible mental and physical
resources. The same can be said of our Christian
life.
A lady went to a jeweler to have her watch
fixed. He disappeared to the back and soon
returned with it running perfectly. Surprised,
she asked how he could fix it so soon. He
told her it only needed a new battery. "Battery?
Nobody said anything about a battery. I've
been winding it every morning!"
So many Christians do not realize the inner
power of the Holy Spirit to handle things
they think they must take into their own
hands.
We can do so many more things and do them
stress free if we pull Him on our side. In
His book The Church: What We Are Meant To
Be, Ken Hutcherson writes, "When the
Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, it wasn't
dynamite, it was a dynamo! Dynamite makes
a loud noise, kicks up a lot of dust, and
it's over. A dynamo is a continual source
of power. It builds and builds and builds,
and the power never stops flowing."
He is such a good teacher. He can give us
wisdom and the confidence we need to take
the right decisions in life and to follow
them up.
Yesterday, I was called to speak to a couple
who had just lost their baby, two hours old.
The mother was distraught. The father was
weeping. The small brother and sister were
just staring. An inner voice told me to not
to say too many words. I just sat down near
them and cried with them. Yes, the Holy Spirit
can even make us wise and gentle.
The Holy Spirit is a liberator. We forge
chains for ourselves and many times on others.
Like the prodigal son we toil among the swine
herds. And yet, if we call upon Him, He will
come and make us free. I have seen with my
own eyes people being freed from deep addictions
by His power.
The Spirit is like a good medical team. He
can heal. We are all fractured beings that
the Spirit is working to make complete.
On a particularly rough flight, a woman became
very airsick. She was completely wiped out.
The stewardess came by to help her. She put
her arm under the lady's arm, helped her
sit upright in her seat, gave her gum to
chew, went to get her some water and sat
beside her for a long time. With the help
of the stewardess, the lady finished the
trip in far better condition than she began
it in.
This is like the work of the Holy Spirit
in our lives. He comes alongside to help
us when we are in hopeless defeat. He admonishes
us, encourages us, and restores hope and
faith in our lives.
An expert in energizing people, someone once
defined him. "You will receive power
when the Holy Spirit comes upon you"
said the departing Jesus to his apostles!
This man, I forgot his name, was one of the
main evangelizers in Christianity. When told
by his son that the surgery was unsuccessful
and that he will never see again, his only
comment was "I mean, son, I shall never
see your face again?' "No, dad, probably
not in this world." "Well, son,
I have done what I could for God and for
his people with my eyes. Now I shall do what
I can for God and his people without my eyes!"
This is the power of the Holy Spirit. "What
God chooses, He cleanses. What God cleanses,
He molds. What God molds, He fills. What
God fills, He uses."
"I have been forced to go on a journey
I did not want to take," the woman was
telling me. She had a terrible cancer and
was in the last few days of her life. And
yet, she said, "This, the worst of my
times, has also been the best of times. I
am closer to God than I have ever been. Because
so many of the things I leaned on have been
taken away from me, I have been forced to
lean on Jesus, and I have found him trustworthy
and true."
The Holy Spirit made real. By God's grace
may it be so for us.
(c) Fr. Pius Sammut, OCD. Permission
is
hereby granted for any non-commercial
use,
provided that the content is unaltered
from
its original state, if this copyright
notice
is included.
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