We Dare to Ask - Session Four. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within you, whom you have from God (1 Corinthians 6:19).
We Dare to Ask – Session Four
At our baptism we were anointed with the Holy Spirit who lovingly waits for us to call on him that he
may help us to grow in holiness and our likeness of Christ.
O God,
send forth your Holy Spirit
into our hearts that we might perceive,
into our minds that we might remember,
into our souls that we might meditate.
Inspire us to speak with love, holiness,
tenderness and mercy.
Teach, guide and direct our thoughts and senses
from beginning to end.
May your grace help us to see with your eyes
and to act with your love and light in our hearts.
May we be strengthened with wisdom from on high
for the sake and glory of your kingdom.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
In a period of calm and a space of trust, each one of us is invited to share briefly one thing that has happened in the past week. It could be one thing that has given you cause for concern, something shared during the last time you met as a group or something that has given you cause to celebrate.
In this moment of peace and fellowship, we pray for the good of the group. Each member is invited to offer up any personal intentions. We also pray for the good of the Church, for wisdom in our country and for the common good. Let us also bring to mind the poor, the sick and those who have died.
We join together in praying the Apostles’ Creed
Matthew 3:13-17, 4:1
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptised by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he consented.
And when Jesus was baptised, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.
Matthew 3:13-17, 4:1
Published in the middle of the twentieth century, the Narnia series, in particular, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) has become a classic work, enjoyed by millions of children and adults around the world. The author of this series and many other works for adults and children is one of Britain’s literary giants, C.S. Lewis. In his own conversion story, Surprised by Joy (1955), C.S. Lewis described how on reading the Phantastes (1858), the work of George MacDonald, ‘his imagination was baptised’. He was drawn to use the natural world to write fantasy stories retelling biblical themes.
Lewis and MacDonald, however, were not crafting an entirely new genre. Written long before the coming of Christ, the Old Testament used the natural world to represent the divine. Perhaps most hidden in the Old Testament is the Holy Spirit. However, it’s importance is immediately obvious, in Genesis 1:2 we read ‘And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.’ We see intimations of the Holy Spirit in the dove sent out by Noah and in a cloud or column of fire which symbolised the Holy Spirit guiding the chosen people in the desert. Time and again, the Holy Spirit worked through anointings with oil to set apart individuals to serve as priests, prophets or kings.
Holy Scripture recounts how the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus when he was baptised by his cousin, John the Baptist, in the River Jordan. From that moment, Jesus became Christ, the anointed one bestowed with a particular vocation, a calling. The Holy Spirit was to accompany him on his mission to preach the Good News, to build the kingdom of God and to ultimately suffer and die that you and I may have the opportunity to be with him now and forever.
Jesus himself knew that in the same way our ancestors had rejected the message proclaimed by the prophets of the Old Testament, people would continue to choose to go their own way in search of power, pleasure and possessions. This is why he sent the Holy Spirit to be our guide, and ‘our Helper’ ‘to bring to [our] remembrance all that [Jesus said]’ (John 14:26). Jesus knows it can be difficult for us to choose what is good and he wants to accompany us on our life journey to him.
At our Baptism, we are anointed with the oil of Chrism and bestowed with the Holy Spirit in a bond of love. When we take time to pray it is the Holy Spirit who quietly and lovingly prompts us to action in the silence of our hearts. The Holy Spirit is there when we ask, and when we seek him out.
By gifting us the Holy Spirit, God our loving Father is giving us what we need to undertake our baptismal
vocation: to share in Christ’s threefold mission:
With the help of the Holy Spirit, our own dying and rising to new life initiated at our Baptism becomes our way of life. Our continual turning from selfishness and pride to live in Christ is made visible. The Holy Spirit quietly awaits and strengthens even our littlest desire to live our Baptismal vocation – to guide us as we participate in Christ’s threefold mission. It is not so much that we were baptised but that we are baptised.
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