{"id":74,"date":"2011-09-28T16:42:19","date_gmt":"2011-09-28T16:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=74"},"modified":"2011-11-09T20:46:07","modified_gmt":"2011-11-09T20:46:07","slug":"session-one-to-whom-does-god-give-his-spirit-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=74","title":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">    var _gaq = _gaq || [];   _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-25646250-2']);   _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);    (function() {     var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text\/javascript'; ga.async = true;     ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:\/\/ssl' : 'http:\/\/www') + '.google-analytics.com\/ga.js';     var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);   })();  <\/script>  <\/head> Session One: To Whom Does God Give His Spirit? &#8211; Held on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong style=\"text-align: -webkit-auto;\">To Whom Does God the Father Give His Spirit?<\/strong><strong style=\"text-align: -webkit-auto;\">\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s session will focus on a simple but fundamental dimension of the Christian faith, the Holy Spirit. \u00a0And there are two dimensions of that presence we want to focus our attention; one is the communal and historical dimension while the other is personal.<\/p>\n<p>We are going to arrive at the communal and historical dimensions by asking a simple question, To whom does God the Father give his Spirit? \u00a0Before reading further, you might want to write down your answer. \u00a0The words that you actual choose matter, for they reveal something of who you are and the world in which you live.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cCatholic\u201d Responses that reveal the Communal and Historical Dimension<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dionzio: I always interpreted it as being when you received Holy Communion.<\/p>\n<p>Rosemarie: One of the ways of receiving the Holy Spirit, I believe, is to become confirmed in Christ and receive the gifts of the Spirit and become the Temple in your soul and body.<\/p>\n<p>Roseann: Well when we first get the Holy Spirit is when we have our babies baptized.\u00a0 And that\u2019s when the Holy Spirit is in you as a baby.\u00a0 And then in Confirmation you reaffirm that.\u00a0 You dedicated yourself to Christ.\u00a0 You reaffirm your faith and the Spirit is reaffirmed in you.<\/p>\n<p>Tim:\u00a0 I guess the people who receive the Holy Spirit now are supposed to be when you receive Confirmation.\u00a0 But back then it was when the tongues of fire came down from heaven on the Apostles, and the disciples in the room.<\/p>\n<p>Fivepin: Isn\u2019t it at baptism?\u00a0 At Confirmation, aren\u2019t you just renewing what you are accepting?<\/p>\n<p>Dick:<\/p>\n<p>If you listen carefully, pay attention to the actual words, it is possible for the whole world, a world with a traditions shared by many, to come to light. \u00a0For me then a number of features of the Catholic world come to light.\u00a0 First, there is the sacramental world of the Catholic, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion. This shared language is one of the sources of the life of the community. \u00a0Secondly, a family bringing their infant child to be baptism reveals a faith that has a tradition and, therefore, a history.<\/p>\n<p>We can change the word Catholic, to Christian, to Jew, to Muslim, to Hindu, etc., in other words one&#8217;s tradition, history makes an enormous difference. It also very important to keep in mind that no human being chooses their parents, their sex, their country of origin, the year of their birth, etc.; all of the most formative aspects of everyone\u2019s life is merely given, a gift. \u00a0This leaves us with another question, if all these formative aspects of our life are a gift, is there a Giver?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conditional Responses<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Annette: Anybody who asks.<\/p>\n<p>Carol: Those who open their hearts and accept what Jesus has to offer them as the gift of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Dick<\/p>\n<p>These responses raise another, and in some ways deeper, question, if one \u201casks,\u201d if one \u201copen your heart and accept\u201d what role does the Holy Spirit play in those actions.\u00a0 Can we ask, can we open our heart, without the prior gift of God\u2019s Spirit? \u00a0How would you answer this question?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Universal Response<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Michael: Everyone<\/p>\n<p>Dick<\/p>\n<p>Michael with a single word response raises the discussion to a meaningfully different level and that from two different aspects.\u00a0 Is his answer correct, true?\u00a0 And, if it is, what are the implications for how everyone understands everyone else?<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Issue of Truth in a Modern Pluralistic Society<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We have seen that there is a range of opinions which is pretty normal in any gathering of adults. But on the assumption that individuals will hold different opinions, especially on substantive issues, here are a few more questions to ponder.<\/p>\n<p>Is there a difference between opinion and truth? \u00a0Yes? No? I don&#8217;t know? \u00a0What are the reasons for your answer?<\/p>\n<p>How is truth to be governed in a modern pluralistic society?\u00a0 Who decides what is true? Is truth a matter of a majority rule? \u00a0What are some of the strongly held issues in our society that are rooted in truth claims? \u00a0How is the Spirit of God manifested in the concrete events of these truth claims?<\/p>\n<p>It might prove interesting to talk with your friends about this statement: Truth without love becomes a weapon and love without truth is false.<\/p>\n<p><strong>An Existential Response Reveals the Personal Dimension<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mary: I just . . . I guess I have the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 But I always thought in the back of my head that it was going to be like this lightening strike or something.\u00a0 I\u2019m not a good Catholic person because I don\u2019t feel like I have the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 I try to live my life, you know, to be good to others, to be a good wife and a mother.\u00a0 And, you know, do unto to others as you want them to do to you. But I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s the Holy Spirit?\u00a0 I think that is one of the reasons I\u2019m here.\u00a0 I was brought up in the Catholic faith.\u00a0 I was baptized, receive First Communion, Confirmation.\u00a0 Did the marriage prep and all that stuff. And, you know . . . Do I have the Holy Spirit?<\/p>\n<p>I would like to think I do.\u00a0 But it\u2019s not like something I feel. I believe in God.\u00a0 He helped me through some really crisis in my life.\u00a0 It was the only thing that would have gotten me through; the faith that He gives me, the faith and courage and the wisdom to get through that.\u00a0 But what the Holy Spirit is, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>Dick<\/p>\n<p>Mary\u2019s comments open up an existential question, a personal question.\u00a0 Even if the \u201cchurch\u201d teaches that we receive the Holy Spirit, how do I know?\u00a0 In the question is a searching, a wanting to know. \u00a0Have you ever asked a similar question? \u00a0Like Mary, how would you talk about \u00a0your circumstances?<\/p>\n<p>Discerning the presence of the Spirit within us is a delicate matter.\u00a0 I would suggest that we first turn to a passage that Paul wrote to the Galatians who may very well have been feeling the very feelings that Sarah expressed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,\u00a0gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.&#8221; Gal. 5:22<\/p>\n<p>Each of Paul\u2019s words deserves our attention.\u00a0 He begins by identifying each of them as a \u201cfruit,\u201d that is, what is present within us as from the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Each is not what we achieve, they are what is given.\u00a0 Let me take one example, peace.\u00a0 This is the peace that the \u201cworld\u201d cannot give.\u00a0 It is a peace that is present even when we fail, fall short, are overcome with sorrow, grief; is more determinate than the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Your comments are welcomed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To Whom Does God the Father Give His Spirit?\u00a0 Today\u2019s session will focus on a simple but fundamental dimension of the Christian faith, the Holy Spirit. \u00a0And there are two dimensions of that presence we want to focus our attention; &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=74\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74\/revisions\/221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}