Ideas are extremely important, but the way we live is even more important. Knowing more about God doesn't necessarily lead to more love. The truth that the Spirit comes to give us is an active and life-changing truth.  The Spirit is to remind us of all that Jesus taught -- love, kindness, forgiveness, acceptance, compassion.

We need to allow the Holy Spirit to transform our fear into faith, our indifference and hesitation into courage and action. There has arisen in our time what some are calling, "The Culture of Fear". We can allow institutions and governments to control us through fear. They can convince us that certain kinds of people or even certain countries are to be feared. And once we fall under their spell, they can then do whatever they want in the name of protecting us against the enemies that they have created for us.  Among the cold and

black realities of our world, fear and hatred of other peoples and nations has to be near the top of our list. This kind of fear can allow us to kill and destroy others without it bothering our collective conscience. This is where the Holy Spirit must be allowed into our hearts to teach us the truth of what Jesus said. Love your neighbours, love your enemies, do to others as you would have them do to you, forgive, feed the hungry, heal the broken-hearted.

We have to allow the Holy Spirit to renew our imaginations, so that we can gain the freedom we need to discover new insights into old situations. The Spirit of God does not stand still. It is like a burning flame or a flowing river, bringing newness to whatever it touches.

Peace, Fr. John