“YOU ARE IN ME AND I AM IN YOU”
~ Brother Thomas Paul ~
When we think about all these, it can get a little overwhelming. Walk in the way of Jesus? listen to the voice of Jesus? how can all this happen? This can only happen if Jesus helps us. So He said at the Last supper, “I will give you another helper”. Another Helper! That means, Jesus is already with us . In addition, He will also provide us another Helper. Who is that? That helper is Holy Spirit! Holy Spirit is that “another helper”.
What do we see when we think about the Holy Spirit in general? What comes in our mind? Dove – fire – water – wind . All these are the symbols of the Holy Spirit. Who is Holy Spirit? the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. We cannot live without the Holy Spirit. Man was created by breathing the Spirit into his soul. Holy Spirit is a person who is connected to our life profoundly. The first thing we realize here is that, the Holy Spirit is a person. Holy Spirit is a person who is in each one of us. When we pray for the Holy Spirit to come up on us , we realize that the Holy Spirit is in us and at the same time we receive Holy Spirit more and more every day. In particular, we see it in the sacraments, When we pray, “come Holy spirit” the Holy Spirit sanctifies the offerings and make them the body and blood of Christ.”
What then, is our present state ? We all are baptized and confirmed . We are a community of believers and the Lord has given us everything. There is nothing more to give us. Our Lord says : I have given you everything my beloved daughter, my son. The Holy Trinity is in you. I have given you my Body and my Blood. I have given you my Word. I have given my Spirit and I have given you my Mother. We must now open our eyes and learn about the gifts of the Spirit.
Pope Francis once said in his homily , although we are Catholic, the gifts we received through baptism has not yet opened. We may have opened the shiny front wrapper. What’s in that gift box. That is what Jesus said, “knock and it shall be opened to you”. God has given us everything. What is the greatest gift that God has given us? The greatest gift that God has given us is God . PRAISE THE LORD! We receive God’s grace in every sacrament. But in the Eucharist we receive the Giver of Grace. God has given us God. We are going to discover these mysteries during this retreat.
We sing this every day in the Mass . “The mighty Lord is with us, Our King is with us, Our God is with us, The Lord of Jacob is our help”. Do we believe this? Do you believe that God is with us? This is what we sing every day in the Holy Mass. This must always be within us. When traveling , when we cook, at home, and in the garden this should be in our hearts.
One of the Syriac words from our Syriac tradition is “Souta puasa”, which means fellowship. “Grace of our Lord Jesus .The love of God the Father .And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Be with us all .Always and forever”. Fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Souta puasa or fellowship means I am in you and you in Me”. Who has the fullness of companionship? The Bridegroom and the Bride. Wife and husband . They are one. Not only God dwells in us, but also we are in God. “ Whoever eats my Body and drinks my Blood, will live in me and I in him. I will raise him up on the last day. He will not be subject to condemnation. Rather, he will enter from death into eternal life”. We sing this in Holy Mass . That is what itself Jesus says in John chapter 15 verses 4-5 when He says about the vine and the branches. “Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.”
