For if you live according to the flesh, you will die
We first receive the Spirit in baptism as we, like Israel of old, pass through the waters to begin our exodus, our pilgrimage through this life toward the world to come. Now, as we journey on, the Holy Spirit is meant to define who we are and how we approach life. We may envision ourselves as merely sitting in homes in suburbs and cities, frittering away our hours and days. We risk forgetting the reality of our situation which is that we are dwellers in the desert. If we do not remember this reality of our own exodus we can't expect to know where to find food or water, or how we might one day leave the desert behind and find the promised land.
But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
We are called to have a more clear idea of our identity, to remember who we are in virtue of our baptism. It is only by this knowledge that we can make sense of our lives and properly orient ourselves toward the goal. Christ in us reminds us that we have here no lasting city, that we ought not seek to have treasure with moth and rust destroy. Even our bodies are in some sense dead because of sin. Seeking to endlessly perpetuate youth or health are therefore just some examples of how we can go astray without the guidance of the Spirit.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.
True and lasting life cannot be found by seeking the blessings of this world, which we are reminded is in fact a desert journey. It is found by investing in the things of the Spirit, by seeking his guidance and then bearing his fruit. When we do this we have true life within us that the world cannot see, but which will eventually even draw our bodies into the renewal first begun in our souls.
Consequently, brothers and sisters,
we are not debtors to the flesh,
to live according to the flesh.
The liabilities and limitations of life in the body, of existence in the world under the dominion of sin, cause us to feel as though we are debtors to the flesh, as though to respond to the flesh is our chief priority. We feel as though we must somehow ultimately solve all of the worlds problems through philosophy, science, politics, or moral striving. We imagine that we can and ought to build a utopia in the dry desert. But what we are meant to desire is not a place to stop and make a home, but rather sufficient food and drink to keep going, and clear guidance toward the goal.
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live.
The Spirit guides us so that the desert does not fool us into making desires for temporary things our primary goal. He prevents us, therefore, from turning aside from the pilgrimage, from losing ourselves seeking the mirages of illusory satisfaction that we see around us. In this desert it is essential that we not become lost and isolated, lest we get left behind and die of hunger and thirst. Only the Spirit himself is the living water that can sustain us, just as water once flowed from the rock for the pilgrims of ancient Israel.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
In baptism we received the Spirit. But it is critical that we learn to rely on that gift as a reality in our lives. In isn't enough to be baptized, forget about it, and then to live lives indistinguishable from the rest of the world. As Christians we are meant to grow, even daily, in the sense of identity that the Spirit imparts.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Baptism makes us sons and daughters of God. But it does not of itself make that an experiential reality in our lives. Yet we see by Paul's insistence, it is clearly meant to be such.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a Spirit of adoption,
through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!”
So many of the baptized, if they have any sense of religion at all, feel only this spirit of slavery falling back into fear. The fear they feel insists that it is finally all about them, their performance, and requires from them nothing less than perfection. But the truth is that it is not all about what we do, but what God has done for us. It is not finally about our performance, but his mercy. It does require perfection, but it is a perfection that he himself works within us rather than being something for which we must struggle alone.
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God
The Spirit does this. He himself bears witness. It is a fact. But is he doing it for us? He desires to do so. Only this truth can provide that backstory that makes our desert pilgrimage make sense. God has not abandoned us in the desert, but is leading sons and daughters to the promised land, to our inheritance in Christ.
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.
Let us seek to become more aware of the Spirit bearing witness within us. We too can experience the breath of Jesus renewing the life of the Spirit within us.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit.
We too can experience the consolation of the advocate when the accuser comes against us with lies. Just as Jesus himself remembered his identity and defeated the devil in the desert so too can our identity in him make us victorious. See again how it is not all about us, but rather about the mission of the Spirit to remind and teach us what we need when we need it.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.
It is true that Confirmation "in a certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the Church" (see Catechism of the Catholic Church 1287). But it is also true that most of us had fairly low expectations when we were confirmed and weren't particularly open to that grace. And even if our Confirmation was a room shaking and fire filled experience there is always more. Each time the Church celebrates a feast it is meant to make the grace of that feast present and available in a special way. So too for this feast of Pentecost.
Let us desire what Jesus desires to give, the Spirit who himself desires to be poured anew upon his Church, giving us life and leading them home. Let us thirst for the living water and learn to allow the Spirit himself to open our mouths, first to drink, then to praise.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
No comments:
Post a Comment