Enkindled: Holy Spirit, Holy Gifts

Glad I read this book from cover to cover because only by reading it completely, did I understand the full import of the beginning examples. Also glad I have experienced human love and marriage though I suppose also celibate people can relate also. There are many examples of married love in this book. A couple of things really were important for me: on pages 10-11 "Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues and the interpretation of them are all Spirit-given abilities whose intended purposes go beyond the rational and individual to the relational and communal." I believe this is true and it is my experience in my life; love and my relationship to my husband are beyond the rational and individual and somehow are relational and communal, reaching out to beyond ourselves. It happened for God's purposes and nothing I could have thought up on my own, as far as I believe anyway. The other thing is on page 16 and 17, "The gift of wisdom is the fruit of a deep spiritual experience--not book learning--and consequently, it is centered upon the heart, not the mind. The "heart" refers to that special treasure chest within each of us where our experiences of love and lessons from life are stored. It's where we "chalk up" experiences to life. Its the "place in the gut" that remembers the first kiss and the first betrayal, witnessing the birth of a child and the burial of a spouse. It's where we go to speak when we are ecstatic, the refuge we seek when we are depressed. It's the ground we stand upon when we want to make a good impression, the castle we protect when people speak harsh words. In a word, it's the "interior point" where we engage and experience life." When we have been doing virtual worships on Facebook during this pandemic, our Priests invite us to spiritually commune "inviting Jesus to come into our hearts" and I have been doing this all along but the language in this book is written so beautifully and helps me to understand more my invitation to Jesus and prayer to Him to be inside me, guiding and strengthening me for my life. The final page of the book, the prayer to the Holy Spirit, summarizes very well all of the gifts and this is a book which I will also take with me on the day of the month when we have Eucharistic Adoration in the church and Benediction. It really is a helpful and enlightening book and I benefitted a lot from reading it.
Sharon

I am not yet done reading this book, but I already have gotten so much out of it, so much to reflect on, pray over. Just a great way to prepare especially for Pentecost, and to invite the Holy Spirit to abide within us each day, not only at Pentecost!