Becoming Available
Through the sacrament of baptism, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the first time. But like any gift that really benefits us, this Divine Gift must be opened, this Divine Person must be released. To do this we must first surrender ourselves to Jesus. Then we must surrender our life to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit does not force His will upon us, but seeks an open heart that that has freely chosen to be His personal instrument. This requires dying to self. This double surrender to Jesus and the Spirit is how the early Church embraced the power of the Spirit to proclaim the Gospel.
As Third Millennium disciples, we have the same obligation to spread the "Good News" about the Lordship of Jesus. Only by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and empower and gift us will we be able to fulfill that obligation and privilege. And the Spirit's charismatic gifts will astonish us and others!
Yes, we have to be deeply rooted in the institutional or hierarchical gifts of the Church. But our ability to live the fullness of these gifts hinges on the Holy Spirit working through them. The Church is both institutional and charismatic in its foundation by Jesus. Let's be charismatic: increasingly available to the Spirit. Let's help one another release the Holy Spirit!
A charismatic parish has more than a charismatic prayer meeting with a few charismatics attending. Like the Church founded by Jesus, each parish is called to be both institutional and charismatic! A charismatic spirituality and lifestyle is not the spirituality of some members of the parish; it is the spirituality of the whole Church and of each parish and of each parishioner! All members and all ministries and all organizations in the parish are called to be open to the Holy Spirit and His power and His gifts.
This means that all the activities of the parishioners and parish are prayerfully docile to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, rely on His power to accomplish all their activities (and so He gets the glory), and are open to any Divine charisms that He may wish to provide in carrying out these activities. Because the members of the parish are available to the Spirit in all their activities, they will become a people of praise who joyfully worship and thank this Third Person of the Holy Trinity for His involvement in their personal and parish lives.
