by Fr. Peterson Mwangi IMC
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THEME: NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
In our daily conversations, we find ourselves talking about different spirits that reside in our bodies and in our dwellings. These spirits can either be benevolent like the spirit of truth, spirit of self giving, spirit of generosity, spirit of love and others or we can have malevolent spirits in us like the spirit of hate, spirit of laziness, spirit of stealing, spirit of stinginess, spirit of witchcraft and others. I may not know all the Spirits that resides in you or the other but as Christians we are sure of the Holy Spirit that we received in our baptism. This Spirit makes us children of God through the forgiveness of sins, directs our thoughts and actions as the faithful; He should always reside in our hearts in order to teach, guide, protect and accompany us in our daily Christian life and especially this period of lent.
The question is; is He still in us or we already divorced Him to acquire freedom to do our own will? When it was time for Jesus to begin His public ministry, He first went to River Jordan to be baptized by John in order to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit who in turn directed Him to the desert where he stayed for 40days praying and fasting as a way of preparing Himself to do the will of God which is to save us from our sins and lead us to God. Jesus didn’t allow the Spirit of God to depart from Him for He knew the devil won’t depart from Him either, and without the Spirit of God we can easily be defeated due to our human weaknesses. As we have started this period of lent therefore, let us heed the call of Jesus Christ who asks us to repent all our sins for the kingdom of God is at hand. We will overcome all temptations that can distrust us from being faithful to our daily prayers, fasting and almsgiving if we remain connected to God through the Holy Spirit. After this period of lent that leads us to the celebration of Easter, we should be new creatures in Christ bearing the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Amen!