“Without
the Holy Spirit:
God is far away,
Christ stays in the past,
the Gospel is a dead letter,
the church is simply an organisation,
authority a matter of domination,
mission a matter of propaganda,
the liturgy no more than an evocation,
Christian living a slave morality.
Christ stays in the past,
the Gospel is a dead letter,
the church is simply an organisation,
authority a matter of domination,
mission a matter of propaganda,
the liturgy no more than an evocation,
Christian living a slave morality.
But in the Holy Spirit:
The cosmos is resurrected and groans with
the birth-pangs of the kingdom,
the risen Christ is there,
the Gospel is the power of life,
the church shows forth the life of the Trinity,
authority is a liberating service,
mission is a Pentecost,
the liturgy is both memorial and anticipation,
human action is deified.[i]
the risen Christ is there,
the Gospel is the power of life,
the church shows forth the life of the Trinity,
authority is a liberating service,
mission is a Pentecost,
the liturgy is both memorial and anticipation,
human action is deified.[i]
[i]
Attributed to Metropolitan Iraneos of Latakia (1968)
Quoted by Leach 2001 THE SPIRIT COMES as part of the Package
