OPENING PRAYER

O Rising Dawn,
Radiance of the Light eternal and Sun of Justice:
come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
O Antiphon

Crossing thresholds with the Spirit

At a frontier we have to declare our identity. We may choose not to venture further and instead return home; or we may cross over to a new awareness, a new dimension of reality. James Roose Evans

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:39-41)

‘Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?' (1 Corinthians 3:16)

The visitation, Rueland Frueauf the Third

Reflection

Just over the horizon are 2 momentous births. As with Jesus’s baptism, Pentecost and Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit on to his disciples - each physical and visual - the Spirit is given at the onset of a new frontier in sight. This indicates a significant moment, one that marks some watershed in a venture or story. Maybe this is necessary for threshold crossing. To some extent a new identity is forged, an ancient nature is rekindled, or some elemental boost is received.

Such filling is frequently surprising and always gracious – Elizabeth did nothing here, neither did Jesus at his baptism nor the disciples when exhaled upon! The filling with the Spirit energises us for the unique journey ahead of us. We are re-awakened by a conviction that we are greater than dust, more than particles. We are reminded that God’s presence belongs within us and is no foreign object. Some new and real dimension of life is to be ours.

Closing question

Recall a moment of being moved by God, filled with the Spirit. What did that presage? What did it signify, remind you of, or energise you for?