The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete

Since December, I have had the joy to be involved with our local Lifeteen Youth Group-- and I LOVE it. It is a blessing to share my love of the Faith, and I am blown away by the amount of times that my Faith is strengthened and enkindled by the joy, trust and happiness of the teens. Best thing that has happened in the last several years. SO thankful that our youth minister thought to invite me to participate. God is very good! A few Sundays ago, I told our group a bit about the Holy Spirit as part of our "Windy With A Chance of Fire" (ha ha) Life Night. Here's the gist of what I said: 

The Sanctifier

“When the work that the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that He might continually sanctify the Church.” The Catechism tells us that Christ sent the Holy Spirit (the 3^rd Person of the Blessed Trinity) upon the Apostles and the whole Church in order that the Church would be holy and always remain so through the centuries even in our present time. Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. Up until this point, even though they had witnessed the Resurrection and Ascension, the Apostles had been cowering in fear- afraid of the Romans, afraid of their fellow Jews and the synagogue leaders and unsure where to even begin spreading the Gospel. Maybe they even forgot that Jesus promised “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” We have all received the sacrament of Confirmation and the graces of the Holy Spirit, but it’s easy for us to forget about those graces and to forget to ask the Holy Spirit for help.

The Transformer

But that’s OK- because the Holy Spirit is always close, ready to completely transform us with a renewed heart and mind- just like He did for the first disciples of Jesus. On the day of Pentecost the Apostles and our Mother Mary were gathered in the Upper Room in Jerusalem (very likely the same room where the Last Supper took place) when the whole room was filled with a violent wind. Fire rested above each of their heads to show the immense grace poured out by God through the Holy Spirit of purifying and preparing each of them for their mission to spread the Gospel. This same thing happened to each of us at our Confirmation- there was a very real outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and a strengthening of His fruits in our souls.

The Counselor

The Holy Spirit fulfilled Jesus’ promise to be with the Church always and from then on the Holy Spirit has worked through the Church- from the time the Bible was assembled, as we know it today, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the inspired writing of Pope John Paul II and our current pope, Benedict. We can directly place ourselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit when we make decisions, when we pray and especially as students. There are some beautiful prayers to the Holy Spirit for guidance during studies.

In fact, the Holy Spirit is the master of prayer. He intercedes for us to God and makes His dwelling among the Church in a very real way. The Catechism says that “the Spirit prepares men and goes out to them with His grace, in order to draw them to Christ. He makes present the mystery of Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them into communion with God, that they may bear much fruit”. The first work of the Holy Spirit in the Apostles after Pentecost was to bring unity and order to people of many nations. Peter took his place as leader of the Church by preaching to a huge crowd of Jews from other nations; strangely, each person heard Peter speak in his or her own language. Only months ago Peter was denying Christ and now with the power of the Holy Spirit, he converted 3000 people through one speech! The other Apostles took up their roles as the bishops of the early Church and in the book of Acts we learn of the Apostles conferring the Holy Spirit upon new converts: “When Peter and John arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” In a similar way our bishops confer the sacrament of Confirmation on us, and Holy Orders on those men called to be priests.

 

The Defender

The early Christians took their role as witnesses to Christ to a whole new level and they were almost immediately called upon to defend their Faith even to death. Jews and Gentiles who now shared a common Faith in Christ were strengthened by the sufferings they endured at the hands of others. The Catechism says “All, however, must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow Him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks. Service of and witness to the Faith are necessary for salvation.” The Holy Spirit gives us the courage and fortitude we need to speak up for our beliefs and to lead others to Christ through our sacrifice. Each of us has to be prepared to stand up for our Faith and to defend it in the face of possible persecution with the help of the Holy Spirit, who will give us the words to say and our persecutors the grace to accept the truth. One of the greatest Apostles and Evangelizers who ever lived, St. Paul, was first a persecutor of the Church.

The Enlightener

The Holy Spirit has drawn great sinners, great thinkers, great leaders to the light of truth over the centuries and He continues to give the grace of conversion to those willing to respond. St. Paul was literally blinded with the truth that in persecuting the body of Christ- the Church- He was persecuting the person of Christ. God sent a man named Ananias to Paul that Paul should see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit- healed in mind and body. We can rejoice in the great conversions that still take place through the Holy Spirit- so many of our greatest defenders of the Faith now are converts to Catholicism- like Scott Hahn and Peter Kreeft. Our churches across the country are filled with those who have experienced profound conversions. Daily conversion is what has to keep us moving towards our heavenly goal, with the light of the Holy Spirit to lead us. 

Christ's promise that the Holy Spirit would always be there as our guide is a very personal gift to me. Almost three years ago exactly, I went through a tremendously difficult break up. I felt completely broken, confused about who I was anymore, and lost. The day that it happened, I went to the chapel to pray and to speak with a priest friend about it. After baring my soul, I expected him to (and hoped he would) give me some great words of wisdom that would solve everything. He very simply told me that the Holy Spirit, the Divine Consoler (or Healer), would help me and he handed me a song sheet with the words to a hymn about the Holy Spirit printed on it, along with a prayer of trust to the Holy Spirit. It seemed such a simple thing, and not quite what I had in mind, but I prayed the words every morning, like he said, and soon throughout the day. I can honestly say that it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that I was transformed and healed. It took a lot of time, and I still continue to heal, but the good work begun in my soul that day is all due to the movement of the Holy Spirit. By resting in Him, I know very personally that  the Holy Spirit's power is not just limited to that day of Pentecost with the Apostles and that He's not just for the very smart or the very holy. He dwells in each of us and He is closer to us than we will ever realize.

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Today we remember the conversion to Christianity of a pretty awesome guy. With a pretty awesome conversion. Not only does this guy have his own feast day (even though he does have to share it with the first Pope)- we have a day to mark his conversion too. (What must St. Augustine think of this?) That guy is St. Paul. He spent several years of his life hunting down, persecuting and killing Christians- men and women and probably even children. (What a guy!) And even then, God wanted St. Paul for His own. I can’t tell you how many bad guys I would like for Jesus to throw off a horse and bring to repentance, but that is obviously not the normal style God uses to get our attention. It’s what St. Paul needed. Through his response to God’s call, and his acknowledgement of the Lord’s passion and realization of the Body of Christ, Paul became the greatest evangelizer the world has ever known.

St. Paul encounters the love and power of Christ

Nothing moves me like a good conversion story; though I sometimes think that we glorify ‘back stories’ a bit too much. Some of my favorite saints- like Paul and Mary Magdalene- have amazing back stories. When I was pretty little I really thought that they belonged to me, as my patrons. I hadn’t done that much wrong, (relatively speaking) but the idea of daily conversion and completely turning your life around, no matter how simple and insignificant your problems are, spoke to me even then. We each need to get thrown from our horse be blinded by the light of Christ.

Since Christmas, my family has moved on to studying the book of Acts as part of our nightly prayers. My brother is reading aloud to us a chapter a night and then we talk about it. Last night we read where the Apostles (before Paul joined their ranks) had been imprisoned for preaching and healing when an angel appeared to them, opening the prison doors and saying “Go and stand in the temple and tell the people everything about this new life”! (Acts 5:20) I love that line- that mission for us- not just to tell everyone about the Person of Jesus or your belief in Him, but that your entire life has been changed as a result of Jesus’ coming. Our lives are to be different because we are Christians. Because I am a Catholic, my whole life is new, changed, and full of meaning. Our Faith is supposed to be our life; which brings me to my favorite quote of St. Paul’s: “For me, to live is Christ”. Our life should be nothing but living for Him. I lose this vision about once every thirty minutes; my needs, my desires, my disappointments are tops. Of course the Lord cares about me and provides for my good, but we are to be focused and consumed with love of God and doing His will. If we live for Christ, then to die is truly to gain! If it wasn’t for God and His all consuming love for me, my whole day would be nothing but a major fail.

Kind of a commanding guy, that St. Paul

This time last year, St. Paul was a particular patron of mine. I was working on the play “The Miracle Worker” at my local theatre and I was entrusted with the role of Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller’s determined Irish teacher. I thought about how St. Paul knew what it was like to see, but have his mind clouded with half truths and illusions; and how he experienced temporary physical blindness and an opening up of His mind to Truth and Beauty and a love that he could never imagine. Helen Keller went through something similar, and her tremendous soul was placed in the hands of her teacher, as St. Paul- newborn in the Faith- was entrusted to Ananias for instruction. Helen knew a vision that few others experience in this life once the world was opened to her, and St. Paul shared the joy and blessings of a life lived in Christ after the transformation of his entire existence. During our final performance I was quite choked up and carried off in the ending scene when Annie breaks through to Helen by spelling the word ‘water’ (the matter of the Sacrament of Baptism). I had dropped to the floor to embrace this child, who was truly Helen to me in those moments, and through my tears I saw nothing but a blur and the stage lights- and they were blinding. I was overwhelmed with thinking that this must have been what Helen experienced as the world was opening up around her, and what St. Paul must have felt when stuck off his horse by the light and power of God’s voice asking “Why?” It was a grace filled moment.

Helen's dawn

Today’s scripture reading at Mass for the conversion of St. Paul speaks of Christians as followers of ‘the Way’. St. Paul met The Way along his way- Jesus Christ meets us on the road and shows us that He is the Road and our Destination.  He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life!

A Very Lunsford Christmas - Part 2

Please allow me to be the very last person to wish you "Merry Christmas!" this Season.

Yup, that's right. Christmas ends today, sadly. It's the feast of Epiphany, (if you're a Roman Catholic in America the feast magically moves to the first Sunday after the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on January 1st), when we remember the Wise Men's visit to the Child Jesus and subsequently, that Christ came for all peoples of every nation.  My family celebrates Epiphany on January 6th- the 12th day after Christmas- the way it always used to be done. We're old school, sometimes.

I want to tell you about how my family keeps this holy Season.

A Lunsford Christmas Carol, 2005
My parents and siblings were Cratchits. I was Christmas Past.

"It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well,
 if any man alive possessed the knowledge.
May that be truly said of us, and all of us!"

Usually the tree goes up a few days before Christmas Eve. It takes an entire evening for my dad to get the artificial tree out of the box and fluffed into just the right look. He is perfectionist- we all are- and the tree looks all the better for it. Lights will then be strung and the next night we hang ornaments. The ornaments have evolved over the years into a celebration of every play we have done. There are ornaments with a framed photo of us in costume, a memento of the show dangling from the next branch- and, of course, there are lots of 'Baby's First Christmas' and that nature when you have five kids in the family. The angel ornaments must be hung at the top of the tree, below our tree topper of Mother Mary holding our Baby Jesus. Our Christmas Critter collection (animals made from pine cones, nuts, etc) must be evenly dispersed, along with the fake icicles. Large ornaments go on the bottom and inside branches, and- for Heaven's sake- "don't hang all the photos with your picture right in front"! We have tried to watch a Christmas movie or play Christmas music while decorating, but this quickly becomes a distraction and is drowned out by the general craziness that ensues.

The Lunsfords and their tree.
And the dog we keep every Christmas for a friend.
(That's a tradition too.)

Personally, I spent the entire day of Christmas Eve wrapping gifts. I'm sure it was a beautiful day. I didn't leave my room. (I am a perfectionist when it comes to wrapping. And a procrastinator.)

The presents are put out under the tree and a watchful eye is kept on the littlest Lunsford who likes to check out, shake, and generally snoop into each and every one of them. It seems to me that everyone in the world should have a child to share Christmas with, or should celebrate Christmas like a child. There is nothing like it! There is such joy; and not just about the gifts, but an excitement about life! Bear with me, I have to share something from the book by Caryll Houselander that we read during Advent:  (it just makes me smile--)

"The Child never died in Christ. All through His manhood He kept the essential qualities of His childhood: the capacity for complete joy and complete sorrow, the child's simplicity, the child's love of the Father. To every sorrow that He met in some other person's life, He responded with the unqualified sympathy that only children give. He approached people as children do, asking for a drink of water, wanting nothing but to be loved. Above all, He kept the joy of a child, the child's delight in the loveliness of the earth... when He wanted to describe something utterly beautiful, He described the grass... when He had to produce money to pay a tax, He worked a miracle that is like a fairy story, a miracle that a boy would like to work. Instead of simply calling money out of the air, He made His Apostles find it inside a fish..." 

Around 8pm on Christmas Eve my family gathers for one last lighting of the Advent wreath and the Christmas candle . Then the youngest member of the family gathers up Baby Jesus to place in our outside manger scene and we head to the front yard. We each kiss His little head and sing "Silent Night" as my brother flips the switch to light all of our outside decorations. (It's always so beautiful.) We do the same for our little manger scene on the mantlepiece inside, and we sing more, where it's warm! This year we decided to sing carols several nights during the Christmas Season when we discovered that my young rascal of a brother only knew a couple by heart. Asking him to follow along in a songbook produced lyrics like "troll the accident yuletide carol" so it was a great thing.

Last year our manger was complete with real snow!

Soon we round up, dress up and head out to Midnight Mass - a tradition that I cannot do without. This year, I glammed up in my merry brightest. (Scroll up and you can see. Well, not really.) I put on a cute Talbot's outlet dress, with a shirt underneath because of the cold, and a nice belt.  It wasn't until we sat down at church to hear thirty minutes of carols before Mass that I realized I could not breathe.  We had a huge lasagna dinner which is what I would like to blame for the sudden tightness of my dress. Regardless, I had to go back out to the foyer of the church to loose my belt to the last hole and even then I spent the greater part of the Mass trying not to fall over. You would think it would then be impossible for me to enjoy the large reception planned after the Mass. But no, cookies and cranberry pecan crusted cheese balls still found a willing home on my plate. Once we got home I remained upright long enough to snap the photo above with my family. Baby Jesus got a big Christmas laugh over me, no doubt.

On Christmas Day we usually wake up late. (See above Midnight Mass reference.) We cooked breakfast and then gathered in the living room to open gifts. But, with us, Christmas Day is not about hours spent opening presents. Christmas Day is about Jesus-- His birthday. His birthday is such a big deal, it's not one day. It is a 12 day celebration. My parents decided to stretch out our celebrating over the 12 days when I was maybe 9 or 10 years old. I remember when they told us: "Kids, you are only going to open one present from us on Christmas Day." I probably cried. I didn't understand then what a joy it is to wake up every day for 12 days to say "Merry Christmas" and open a gift. It's pretty awesome, actually. It reminds us that Jesus is the gift that is there for us every day of our lives, every moment. We open one gift (usually a larger, exciting item) from my parents on Christmas morning and the siblings exchange gifts from one another. (That's four gifts on Christmas, for those that are counting.) When I tell people about this tradition in my house they are usually shocked that we have to wait so long, and then shocked that we get 12 gifts. I quickly let them know that these are not X-boxs or DSis that we are getting every day- sometimes even a small dollar store item; or a book, CD, movie, or something to eat. It's just a little way to show the importance of every day in the Christmas Season. This year, I got many cute shirts from my parents, and my main gift was the audio recording of "The Screwtape Letters" dramatized by the awe-some Andy Serkis and cast.

My family knows that I love to give and receive homemade gifts-
A lovely magnet board made from an old tray,
a bracelet from an old sweater and felt,
a Jane Austen inspired badge reel from buttons and a cameo.
My sweet best friend knitted me a gorgeous green scarf from hand dyed wool
and my parents' last gift was a Jane Austen devotional!

We celebrate with a birthday cake for Jesus after dinner (a lovely tradition many people are doing these days!) and usually some cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies complete with recycled plots and dialogue- just to keep things secular. (Other Lunsford Christmas movie favorites include: A Muppet Christmas Carol, Christmas in Connecticut and Spirit of the Season. Check them all out!) With extra time off work, most of the 12 days are spent relaxing and enjoying family at home, or making visits to our extended family and friends. Also; sitting by the fire, driving around to look at Christmas lights and drinking shocking amounts of hot chocolate. With marshmallows. And board games. Yes, there may be some of the holiday stress still in the air, but I am so thankful for the way that I have grown up celebrating this time of year.

You really should spend Christmas with us. It's reverent, funny, random, traditional, spontaneous and exciting. For prayer during the Christmas Season we read from the Christmas sermons of Ronald Knox; I think he sums it all up simply and best with:

"Christmas is a birthday just like any other; it is a birthday unlike any other; and no wonder, for it is the birthday of all of us."

He came that we might have life.

Venite Adoremus!