As Catholics, we are often leery of personal revelation. Of course we should be cautious but we do have the bible, the gift of confession, the mystical tradition of the Church and spiritual direction to act as personal sign posts and safe guards. Like all Christians, Catholics have received the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. As we approach Pentecost, let’s give the Holy Spirit permission to do His job . Don’t lock Him up in a box. The Holy Spirit is our inner Companion who leads us into all truth!
◄ John 16:13 ►
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
What a conundrum in the Body of Christ. I cannot helping feeling sorry for our Lord as I observe the discord between His children. Catholics mistrust revelations of other Christians and Protestants often think that Catholics are open to the occult by praying to Mary and the Saints . They even wonder if we are even saved! Let us not behave like arrogant Pharisees but humbly trust solely in God to lead and teach us as His children and leave condemnation to the Evil One.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
III. THE GIFTS AND FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
1830 The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David.109 They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.
Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.110
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For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God . . . If children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.111
Often Christians must simply acknowledge that we cannot intellectually grasp all heavenly mysteries. We choose to continue our walk in, with and through the Holy Spirit, trusting in God without fear of making a mistake. We cannot allow fear of the devil and deception to be stronger than our trust in God’s Mercy and Grace. Fear freezes us, often preventing the inner spiritual journey that leads to fullness of life in Christ. Trust me, I know what fear can do to a person. Now I realize that God the Father will bring me into the light; He will lead me into all truth.
I once attended a retreat where a Madonna House priest, actually Archbishop Raya, the Archbishop of Lebanon, once said,
“Don’t be afraid of making mistakes because Jesus will wash you clean and then tell you to go play again. He does not say, ‘stand in the corner and don’t you DARE get dirty again’. Just like a mother, who bathes a dirty child and then tells him to go outside and play again.”
Trust more in God’s power than the devil’s
Wow, you do know what you are writing. With all these credentials on the side bar just goes to show. Excellent.
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yea? I trust in your judgment and already my shouldres are starting to relax and my smile is growing even as I type thanks
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This is one of your best posts Melanie. Thank you.
God bless.
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really? I was worked up about someone who was concerned that i was not orthodox enough in one of my posts-you are a balm to my soul.
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I think all of us are on a journey discovering what it means to be Catholic. Really, I haven’t found anything in your posts unorthodox, and I really know the Faith. I wish more Protestants wouldn’t have such an aversion to the Church. It would be a great discomfort to them to know that to the extent that they believe what the Church has always taught, they are in partial communion with us. Full communion means accepting the whole ball of wax and receiving the sacraments. What’s my job at my blog? To tell the truth and let the Holy Spirit work in the hearts of readers. Let God bring those who need to read what I write to my blog. St. Francis de Sales tells us to speak the truth with charity. We can also say, live the truth with charity.
I absolutely love the quote from Archbishop Raya. The Holy Spirit is with you in your writings. Now go out and play.
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I am not just teary, I am breaking down and starting to sob and can’t see- thank-you
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writing IS playing and enjoying the Spirit for me – it is fun and even better, writing is joyful. ofetn my examples and explanations are not pious sounding, perhaps even flippant? C’est la vie. This is the result of 9 kids and an unsophisticated life style does to a persom. 🙂
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Well said, Melanie! This post is awesome!
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ah thanks
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Oh Melanie, this post is so good – the words are so healing. They are removing layers of anxiety and allowing me to dwell again in the arms of the Beloved. So I will go out and play again, first chance I get. Sending you big hugs.
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can’t wait
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