The Holy Spirit in the Church

 

 “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.

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]

---

[i] Attributed to Metropolitan Iraneos of Latakia (1968)

Quoted by Leach 2001 THE SPIRIT COMES as part of the Package

Hanging on to the 'elbow of God'

Praying for the Transformation of the Church in the power of the Holy Spirit--starts with me! Sadly I accept that it is no use grumbling I have to get on my knees-and they're creaky!
Todays meditation from CDP was about zeal

'BE PATIENT AS FAR AS IS COMPATIBLE WITH ZEAL
Zeal is defined as ardour, energy, fervour. Patience s well and good, but not if it swamps zeal and extinguishes direction and energy. Where it is not possible to direct that zeal into action it can be channelled into urgency of prayer, grasping the right arm of God by the elbow to reach and open doors of opportunity fastened tight shut by our prayerlessness.
When zeal abates or evaporates we need to discern whether we were wrongly counselled to 'have patience' or whether the original fervour was misplaced or immature and would have energised some misdirected scheme embraced in rash enthusiasm.It still remains true that it is easier to alter the course of an already moving vehicle than to 'push-start' one that has forgotten how to even let its engine tick over. We need hearts consumed with passion to activate the coming of the Kingsom, that will not rest until its brightness appears as the noon-day sun'