Today’s readings
You know, I really don’t think we depend on the Holy Spirit as much as we should. I mean, the Spirit is one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity and has all power and authority as God. Yet, I think, we often shelve the Holy Spirit after Confirmation and maybe dust him off every Pentecost. Which is sad, because, as we know, the Holy Spirit is a gift Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, a gift given to each of us at our Baptism and Confirmation, so that we might have the grace we need to live our lives of faith.
We also believe that the Holy Spirit has spoken through the prophets, like Ezekiel, from whom we have been hearing in the first reading the past week or so. He is preaching to a people whose piety has dried up and who have mostly turned away from God. But even that dryness is no match for the Holy Spirit, who can speak to their dry bones and bring them to life and vitality.
I think that’s good news for us, because we all go through times when our spiritual lives are a little like those dry bones. Times when we seem to be going through the motions in prayer, not sure if it’s having any effect on those for whom we are praying, or even on us ourselves. Maybe for one reason or another, we have gotten off the path and our spiritual lives have been left behind. Whatever it is that causes the dryness, it seems like most of us have that issue at one point or another.
So it’s important to remember that the Holy Spirit is our Advocate in those times (and really all through our lives). When we feel like we are spiritually spinning our wheels, we need to turn to the Spirit and call on the Spirit’s breath of life. It is in the Holy Spirit that the Psalmist sings:
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy
and his wondrous deeds to the children of men,
Because he satisfied the longing soul
and filled the hungry soul with good things.