....faith and life....life and faces

                                                                                     God with us

The Spirit of God

overcomes the language barriers among men and creates new unity. "The company of those who believed were of one heart and soul. (Acts 4,32).

Perhaps, reading these lines, you start doubting: the Holy Spirit, God Himself, within man, within Christians, and maybe even within myself? The Spirit of God also acts among us. But few of us experience Him in as dramatic a way as the disciples and the Jews at the first Pentecost. Still, it happens. Even today, people speak under the influence of the Holy Spirit, prophesy and heal, make peace and help with reconciliation. But most people experience Him without knowing that it is the Holy Spirit. He is the cause of love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (See Gal 5,22). 

He is effective within us when we profess Jesus Christ, when we hope and pray, encourage and console. He is there at the moments when we "begin to see the light" and find within us certainty about the purpose of our life which is beyond all doubt. Even death cannot put this inner experience into question any more. He is present where peace comes into our life in spite of outside trouble; where people bear great injustice silently and are able to forgive; where they are good to someone without expecting an echo of thankfulness; where they make the effort to endure a difficult marriage or not to succumb to temptation: everywhere is the spirit of God.

You may say: humaneness, love and faithfulness, all of this also exists outside of Christianity. Consequently, the Spirit of God should also be active there. And this is exactly the case! Wherever people do good, they do it with the help of God. But He is active in the Church in a special way. The Bible reports repeatedly that the young Church was very conscious of the Spirit of Christ who directed them (See Acts 15,28). And it was promised that this Spirit would remain with the community of the faithful right to the end of time. This is why in the community of the faithful the effect of the Spirit of God can more easily be experienced, even today.

Grace: New Life

Have you already had any of the experiences mentioned earlier? Then you may be able to confirm that God heals us, does us good, brings joy and self-confidence. You may also feel that all this did not happen as a result of your effort. It was independent of your will. It cannot be repeated at will. There is no recipe for such an experience. It is a gift. This gift is called "grace". God gives Himself. He lives within us. But we have no right to expect this and He is under no obligation. For us, this means a completely new life, a new quality of life, a new life-consciousness.