One of the more
frightening afflictions mentioned
In the Gospels
is the possibility
of being possessed.
The idea that
a devil has some control over you,
making you do things
you don't want to do,
that it inhabits your life
at the very deepest part,
is truly terrifying!
We see the poor man
possessed by Legion
able to rip chains
and terrify the neighbours.
But we see him
delivered by God
as the devils are cast out
into suicidal swine.
Being possessed
is something that should
and does worry us.
We do not want to be controlled
by anyone
or anything
other than ourselves.
But isn't this what happens
to the Apostles?
Do they not become possessed,
albeit with the Holy Ghost?
Is the Holy Ghost taking control
of people?
[PAUSE]
Some of us are afraid
of the Holy Ghost
for this reason.
They worry that
the Holy Ghost
will make them do things
that they really do not want to do.
They worry that He will
change their lives
in ways that
they cannot bear thinking about.
The trouble is,
they are right.
[PAUSE]
Allowing the Holy Ghost
to enter your heart
will change your life,
but He will honour where you are
in your faith.
Look at Moses.
He is frightened
of the task
of telling Pharaoh
to let his people go.
God gives him powers
and even lets Aaron speak for him.
So Moses accepts and is transformed.
[PAUSE]
Our Lady accepts the gift
of the Holy Baby in her womb
and all is done unto her
according to the Angel's word.
The disciples aren't ready
for the Holy Ghost
until Our Lord ascends into Heaven.
At every stage,
the Holy Ghost meets is where we are
but spurs us on.
We do not lose
the freedom to choose.
The Lord says,
"If ye love me, keep my commandments."
And then He says,
"and I will pray the Father
and He shall give you
another Comforter."
Our keeping of the commandments
comes before,
and separately from,
the giving of the Spirit.
That's not to say
that we can work our way
into Heaven
by keeping of the commandments.
But rather we can work out
our salvation
with the Holy Ghost
alongside us,
not controlling us,
so that our salvation is completed
and perfected
by His grace.
It also means that
when the Holy Ghost comes
He is not going to take us over
so that we can just sit back
and let Him do all the work.
While we may be His,
the Holy Ghost
will not possess us
and turn us into His puppets.
We are given
the immense dignity
of our own free will.
God created that in us
He wants us to use it
and He wants to perfect it
by living alongside us.
That is what Paraclete means:
one who works alongside,
a side-kick almost!
[PAUSE]
But the Holy Ghost is dynamic
and, for love of us,
demands that we be dynamic too.
He may respect who we are,
even who we think we are,
but still He wants us
to become the person who He created
- the person we truly want to be.
Eventually, in Him,
the person that we think we are
becomes the person
that we really are.
[PAUSE]
We are not God's playthings
or Jesus' Holy Incarnation
makes no sense.
Although life in the Holy Ghost
can be intensely uncomfortable
at times,
that discomfort comes
from a world that is passing away
possessed by the spirits of
Apostasy, Apathy and Complacency.
The Holy Ghost living with us
means that
we are living alongside
Eternity itself.
The more we grow in love,
the more we want to say, "yes"
to the Spirit
and the more we say, "yes"
to the Spirit
the more we grow in love.
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