After the death and resurrection, the Apostles, the men who walked with Jesuss, were afraid and locked themselves in the Upper Room. I cannot help but think this is where most of us are in our spiritual lives. The Apostles were not meant to stay here. We are not meant to stay here.
What occurred then? Christ appeared to them and breathed on them saying, “receive the holy Spirit.” John 20:22. He came with peace and a breath, and that breath of God changed them. They did not need tongues of fire to ignite this change, as occurred in the Acts of the Apostles at Pentecost. Disciples don’t necessarily need earth shattering but just a breath. In Genesis 2:7 “God breathed life into man.”
But what about us, now? What about those of us who have not quite become those faithful disciples yet? What about those of us who are still dry bones, waiting for life to be breathed into us? (Read Ezekiel 37)
That is my story. That is your story. Whatever is keeping you as simply a pile of dry bones, you were not made for that but… you were made for real, intimate relationship with God. How do we foster this? receive this?
God gives us so many ways to encounter Him, tangibly through the sacraments. We encounter Him body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist! We encounter His perfect and unrelenting mercy through the gift of Confession. We encounter the love of God, the Holy Spirit Himself in Confirmation. We encounter first and foremost the undeserved and saving grace of the sacrament of Baptism. Just to name a few. We can daily encounter Him and receive His very life in us (grace).
We cannot live without the breath of God. We cannot live without the Holy Spirit.
Challenge: Stop ten different times today and quietly pray “Come Holy Spirit” in the midst of what you are doing.
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“We’re all dry bones, longing for a Savior, waiting for the God of Life to put us back together.