Lesson 12 Life in the Spirit 1) After his death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus continues his presence with

the faithful through the Eucharist, the Word of God, The Church and the Sacraments. He guaranteed his presence by promising I will be with you till the end of the world (Mt 28/10). He also promised the presence of the Spirit among His disciples (Jn 14/16, 16/7, 13). The risen Lord breathes his Spirit upon the disciples (Jn 20/22). He made them wait in the city of Jerusalem (Lk 24/49) for receiving the Spirit, whom they received on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2/1-4). Thus a disciple, a Christian, is one who lives in the presence of the risen Lord, and of the Spirit. A Christian lives in this world among the realities of this world, but at the same time in the presence of the risen Lord who is now being seated at the right hand of his Father and that of the Spirit. The presence of Jesus is a totally life transforming presence (e.g. Zachaeus). The presence of the Spirit is a power generating presence, for speaking the Word of God boldly (Acts 4/31). At creation, the Spirit gave to the earth the cosmic form by hovering over it (Gen 1/2). The same Spirit continued to speak to the people through the prophets of OT and to inspire the NT writers to give the written form to the Word of God. The creative and the prophetic activities of the Spirit of God among the people of God is eternal, never ending, by creating new structures, providing new insights for living the Word of God. This never ending teaching and guiding activity of the Spirit of God in the church make the Spirit the perfector and fulfiller of all that has been and that will be (Malankara Eucharistic celebration, after elevation). It is the Spirit that makes the word that was human the Word of God. It is the same Spirit that is active in us that gives the power of God to our words. The Spirit who is in us makes the word that we speak inspired and inspiring. The creative activity of the Spirit causes the physical body of Jesus to be born of Mother Mary (Lk 1/35). The spirit descends on Jesus and enables him to complete the ministry against the onslaughts (temptations) and in the power of the Spirit (Lk 4/14). The action of the Spirit in the birth of the physical body of Jesus is equally true of the birth of the mystical body of Jesus, the Church. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit sets the church in motion and guided its life and activities at every step. More than everything else the Spirit created a new people of God from the four corners of the world, where the Greeks and Jews, slaves and free men, male and female are all united into one wholeness of belonging to Christ (Gal 3/28). The great miracle the spirit brought about is the formation of a praying, apostolic, Eucharistic and sharing community described in Acts 2/42-48. The Spirit is creatively active today in the church through the sacraments. In the Malankara Liturgy the Sacraments of Baptism, Myron and Priesthood are all administered by the anointing by Myron, symbolizing the anointing by the Spirit. Palli Koodasha is completed by an elaborate anointing by Myron. As the church

2)

3)

4)

is the localizing point of reference for the people of God, its anointing by Myron symbolizes the anointing of the people of God by the Spirit of the Lord. Besides the Malankara Liturgy celebrates the Holy Spirit as the spirit who fulfills all the sacraments. He is active among faithful by sharing his gifts freely to those whom he chooses. The genuine life of the Spirit is manifested through its fruits. The life of the Spirit is opposed to the life of the Spirit of the world (Sarx - Flesh). These two principles are opposed to each other. The Spirit in us produces the fruits, the first of which is love (Gal /19-22). 5) Is the church today, the Malankara Catholic Church specifically for us, a spirit filled church? Do we have spirit filled people who radiate the power of the Spirit, though the means of receiving the gift of the Spirit mentioned above (no.4) are received by all Christians? One has to distinguish between the constitutive periods of the church from its historical realizations. The extra ordinary manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles and by Paul in the letters, like the power of the tongues and healing were needed and useful for the occasions. They were granted to a few and not indiscriminately to every member of the Christian community. On the other hand, Pauls vision of the life in the Spirit gives importance to the practice of Christian virtues which he calls the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5/22-23) that are opposed to the Spirit of the world (vv. 19-21). It is the fruits of the Spirit like love, joy, peace, understanding, kindness etc. that would go a long way in the building up of the kingdom of God in the faction ridden, highly individualistic and unjust world of today.