Life In The Spirit

I've been on a spiritual low since the Lenten days and now that it's Easter, I thought I'd be okay but somehow deep within, there's still this gnawing tug that draws me in to succumb to feeling even lower. And so reading what Fr William Goh had written yesterday, it had hit me spot on nail on the head. Here's what he said:

"Today, the gospel reminds us that the Spirit is free, for Jesus said, “Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above. The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.” We must be open to how the Spirit is moving and acting in our lives. This does not mean that the Spirit is against the institution. No, the institution is meant to protect, and not stifle the Spirit. But we cannot reduce the Spirit to an institutional mode.

How then can we recover this Spirit, if it’s not the need to strengthen our personal relationship with the Holy Spirit? We need a renewal of the life of the Holy Spirit in us, especially for those of us who are active in Church ministry and not merely those who are inactive in Church. If we feel that our enthusiasm for the Lord is lacking and that we are simply working for the Lord or for the Church, accomplishing our work as tasks and forgetting the real objective of bringing the love of Christ to others, then we will find Church ministry burdensome and stifling. We need a recharge and a rebirth in the power of the Spirit. There is no other way to do this then to deepen our prayer life, our love for the Word and the Sacraments. For those who have been working in the Church, either as volunteers or full-time workers, an annual retreat is indispensable. If not, we lose our focus and Church ministry will become no different from secular work. Unless we constantly remind ourselves of the need to build and strengthen our relationship with the Lord, we will lose our fervour and faith in Him. We must pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that our faith will neither become institutionalized, nor our relationships with Him become ritualized. Once we lose the Spirit, we lose the power of the gospel to effect transformation in the lives of people whom we minister to."

By Rev Father William Goh
Read his full writings here:
http://csctr.net/16-april-2012-second-monday-of-easter
(2nd Monday of Easter, 16 April 2012, Readings taken from ACTS 4:23-31; JN 3:1-8)