E=mc2: More spiritual energetics

The faithful, as soon as they wake up and are risen, before beginning work, shall pray to God, and then go to their work. But if there is any instruction in the Word, they shall give this preference and go there to hear the Word of God
for the strengthening of their souls. They shall be zealous to go to the church, where the Spirit flourishes.

St Hippolytus Traditio Apostolica Cap xxxv

I am most interested by the last sentence that St Hippolytus writes here as it issues an enormous challenge to each Parish Church of each and every denomination.

I wrote earlier about the need for the Church to be a place of energising for the people of God - after all, it should be hard work being a Christian. Those of us who hold down full time jobs work at the spiritual coal faces as well, bringing our Christianity into the places where we are. We shouldn't suppress that. Saying that, neither should we force it down people's throats. Let us be content to live our lives as to make people curious about our faith and, further, to want to share it. Then, because we are terribly thirsty, tired and hungry we come to the Church. Remember that lovely old hymn by Horatius Bonar:

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down Thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one, stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk, till traveling days are done.

The hymn speaks of the refreshment that we receive in the person of Christ, and of course, Christ is present at Mass for the express intent of nourishing us with His very self as far as we allow Him. However, St Hippolytus points us to an unpalatable truth. He implies strongly that the Church is "where the Spirit flourishes."

This then provides us with a criterion for examining our Parishes very carefully. "Is the Spirit flourishing in your Church?" If the answer is no, then it does cast some doubt as to whether one's Parish is part of the Church.

What are the signs of the Spirit flourishing?

St Paul's letter to the Galatians does tell us about the fruit of the spirit being

Ὁ δὲ καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἀγάπη, χαρά, εἰρήνη, μακροθυμία, χρηστότης, ἀγαθωσύνη, πίστις, πραΰτης, ἐγκράτεια: κατὰ τῶν τοιούτων οὐκ ἔστιν νόμος.

Galatians v.22

But the fruit of the Spirit is (Unconditional) Love, Joy, Peace (in the Jewish sense this can mean prosperity, health and welfare), Patience (literally the opposite of being quick tempered), Goodness (or Usefulness), Goodness (in the senses of personal integrity and, towards others, beneficence), Faith, Meekness (or forbearance) and Self Control (i.e. continence and temperance): against these things there is no law.

(My Translation)

These things need to be seen in each Parish, and if they aren't then one must ask the question, "what can be done?" But we should not be too perturbed: notice that the translation says that there is only one fruit of the Spirit - the word καρπὸς is singular indicating that this one fruit of the Spirit is transcendental, unifying the list of wonderful virtues. One can take heart then that if just one aspect is found in one's parish, then something is growing. Of course, the goal must be to ensure that all of these aspects are active in our parishes.

Such cultivation can only come about if the Sacraments are distributed and received with due reverence, realising that they are the vehicles by which the grace of God abounds in us. If the Spirit of God was present at the Creation (however it happened, pace O Scientists) then it is clear that this Spirit seeks to put into order rather than to allow chaos to reign. This order has to be considered at the level of the person, of the parish, of the diocese and at the jurisdiction. The fragmentation of the church is an impediment to the order that the Spirit seeks at the level of the jurisdiction, and perhaps it is no wonder that we struggle as Christians. There has been no golden age of the Church, unlike the great golden age of Judaism, or the height of the Roman Empire. Either that is God's plan to keep us humble, or it is because we refuse to seek full order.

That order will come, at the hands of the Prelates in building Christian Unity, but ultimately at the hands of God.

We have a lot to do. If we wish to have the energy to serve God truly, then we must seek to ensure that our Parishes allow access to the wells of living water. How will your Parish work towards this?