Harvesting the Spirit

From the beginning of Christ’s reign there have been sayings such as “Let the spirit move you” or “The Spirit works in mysterious ways”. What is this spirit they are referring to? Is this something physical we can touch or is it something out of our own imagination?

There are some who say that it is a presence they can feel or comprehend through a personal experience. My mom used to say it felt like a gentle breeze. It is hard to put into words but you know it is there, guiding you, controlling you and moving you in a certain direction.

The breath of Christ is one of the most talked about and controversial themes in the Bible and in the world today. The faithful believe that it is His true presence inside of each and every one of us. The Gospel of John (16:13) states that “However, when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking of his own accord, but will say only what he has been told; and he will reveal to you the things to come”.

I can best describe Him in my own words as on old friend, visiting us often throughout our lives, in times of both joy and sadness. He enters like the sunlight on the air and encompasses both the mind and the heart. Through prayer, He is magnified and realized. The Spirit unites us in a way we simply cannot describe. It is not special to any one person; rather, the Spirit is everywhere, occupying an endless road in which we all travel. We are enlightened by its eternal quality. We are awed by its intelligence and we are moved by its emotion.
Gathered as we are at this time of year, we look back on what we have sown and on that which grew upon our harvest. Did we produce abundance? Did we do well by our neighbor? Did we show kindness to one who needs it? Were we generous with our time? Where we faithful?

Human beings measure their success by what they accumulate through material means. God measures success by the size of the human heart and in what the Spirit accomplishes in all of us. I am reminded by the words of Saint Josemaria Escriva in his homily entitled “The Great Unknown”: “Only when a man is faithful to grace and decides to place the cross in the centre of his soul, denying himself for the love of God, detaching himself in a real way from all selfishness and false human security, only then — when a man lives by faith in a real way — will he receive the fullness of the great fire, the great light, the great comfort of the Holy Spirit”.

May the peace of the Holy Spirit be with you all and may you be blessed with its fruits. May you live out and seek only the good in others. God bless.