Catholic Charismatic Renewal Center for Chicago
Being Available to the Holy Spirit
Excuse me, are you available????
This is a wonderful question. It does not demand service. You might say it not only trusts the Holy Spirit within you, but within the other person. Sometimes we do not allow for this to happen. We make demands of ourselves and of others. We speak and hear questions like, “Can you do this? I’m sorry to interrupt but I need this right now. I have to get this done. I just have a question to ask. I have to do this or should do this.” Is this being available? Can we be too busy and not be listening to ourselves and to the Lord? Can we be out of balance?
Was Jesus always available? Didn’t he meet people where they were? To whom was Jesus available most often? How was he available? In order to truly be open we need to take our hearts and minds off of ourselves and our worries, and lift them up to the Lord in praise and worship. To be available means to be truly present: to be listening at times and just to be silent. It means letting go of our agenda.
To whom are you available, for what purpose? Are you available all the time? How are you available to God….Father, Son and Holy Spirit? How often do you spend time in praise and worship? I have found it helpful, as St Ignatius suggested, beginning prayer by taking the amount of time it would take to say an Our Father …. To stand up before the Lord and simply let him behold you.
Availability is like a gate which can be opened or closed. If there is not care taken then we can either be overcome or isolate ourselves. Do we spend more time laboring in the fields, or more time with the Shepherd? Maybe we get distracted and get lost. He truly is the gate. Do we listen for his voice? Do we open the gate or wait till he does? Do we take as much time to praise and worship him as we do in the service of others?
The Lord gave me a word a while back and it helps me stay available and open and balanced: As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. REMAIN IN MY LOVE…and then you shall love others.
Take time, be still. Know that He is God….be available.
Mary Ann Entrup
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
What does it mean to be available to God? The first availability must be one of prayer. Our availability must be availability of self. We must make sure that we are taking the time to spend time with the Lord. Unless we do this, we will not truly know what he wants us to do with our lives and our time. We must be available to God so that we can hear his voice. It is out of deep intimacy with God that we discover who we are and what we are supposed to do.
Availability does not mean saying yes to everyone’s request. Sometimes availability to God means denying someone’s good request.
The point is, what does God want?
God Bless, Fr John Harvey
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Once I clearly understood what Jesus has done for me on the cross, I fell in love with him, and never looked back. I promised him to repent and to be available. I asked him to use me as an anointed vessel to heal the sick, to set the captives free, to bring peace to those who carry heavy burdens, and most of all to draw many to a closer relationship with him.
Because of his mercy and grace Jesus answered my prayer, and uses me as a vehicle, when and where he chooses, for his glory.
Maryse Gregoire
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Bert Ghezzi, host of a Catholic TV show recently recommended a practice to help people receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. He said in the privacy of our rooms to open our hands and say, “Holy Spirit, I am available to you. Enter into me and use me as you see fit.”
Darlene Harris is a CNA at St Joseph’s Hospital in Chicago. For more than thirty years, she has requested working on Thanksgiving Day. She says, “I do this to thank the Lord for all of his benefits to me. I see this day as an opportunity to help those who are helpless. This is my way of being available to God and his people.”
Lauretta and Ray Seabeck are an American couple that regularly gather and ship articles to the poor of Haiti. They like to invoke the Holy Spirit for all of their needs.
One day a Haitian nun requested some pasta so she could make a Christmas dinner for all of her people. As always, the couple said a simple prayer, but didn’t mention this to anyone. The next morning at Mass a woman asked them to go to the parking lot. She had gotten a trunk full of pasta for them from the local food bank.
Twenty-two hundred Haitians had spaghetti dinner for Christmas because one couple made themselves available to the Holy Spirit.
Taken from St Anthon Messenger, November, 2007 – Submitted by Arlene Paolicchi
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Being open to the Holy Spirit fills one with a desire to do something for the Lord. One way I chose was to be part of the Ministry of Care team in our Parish. We bring Holy Communion to the residents of our local nursing and rehabilitation center. We are Church for the residents. We share our faith weekly with each other.
Pope Benedict XVI has written that we all share God’s love, therefore, as one body in Christ we belong to one another. Thus, if one member suffers, all members suffer.
St Benedictus, published by Magnificent/Ignatius Press, November 29, 2007, for Pope Benedict’s entire message. – Submitted by Shirley Muench.