I was sick of everything, and for no particular reason. How would you explain to your friend how diversity can be unity? But back to Adler's manifold. If you just start writing, you will be through with your assignment before you know it! In each person, Scripture says, the Spirit reveals his presence in a particular way for the common good. Below is a prayer St. The diversity has all kinds of area such as different country people, looks, languages, personality, color of skin, etc.
The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life. In the Liturgy of the Hours, there is a lovely meditation on the Spirit by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, a famous teacher in the ancient church. Like other church leaders of his age, Cyril reads the story of the woman at the well with an eye for symbolic imagery. He views the water that Christ offers the woman as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Cyril writes: The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of living water, welling up into eternal life. This is a new kind of water, a living, leaping water, welling up for those who are worthy. But why did Christ call the grace of the Spirit water. Because all things are dependent on water; plants and animals have their origin in water. Water comes down from heaven as rain, and although it is alway the same in itself, it produces many different effects, one in the palm tree, another in the vine, and so on throughout the whole of creation. It does not come down, now as one thing, now as another, but while remaining essentially the same, it adapts itself to the needs of every creature that receives it. This is a lovely way to describe the eternal, unchanging nature of the Spirit while at the same time unity in diversity drawing the dynamic way the Spirit moves and acts in our lives. Cyril also explains that the Holy Spirit enters the soul like water enters a dry tree. His action is different in different people, but the Spirit himself is always the same. In each person, Scripture says, the Spirit reveals his presence in a particular way for the common good. We are united not through having identical gifts or even precise agreement on every doctrine, but rather, it is the water of the Spirit, the presence of God within and among us, who unites us with bonds of love. In this life, we will never have perfect agreement among all peoples, but we can be united in the Spirit, the water of eternal life, that nurtures all of us together to grow into the one Mystical Body of Christ. Notes: Passages quoted from Cyril of Jerusalem are from volume 2 of The Liturgy of Hours Catholic Book Companypages 966-967. Photos on this post by Julie McCarty, 2011. Unity in diversity drawing is a prayer St. Francis wrote as he was approaching his own death. One can see the way Francis viewed all of creation as being a gift of Creator God. I was moved by pictures of her first day of school. Such an innocent, fresh, excited look on her face. Everything around her was new— new clothes, new school bag, new school, new teacher. Could we just talk about that some other time. We hear the gospel parable about … Continue reading Hey, is that fair. In your presence we discover joy. We entrust ourselves to your care. Pour your faithful love upon us as we place our hope in you. I was sick of everything, and for no particular reason. I was asked to share a personal faith story relating to Matthew 1:18-25. One major theme has been that prayer is primarily about relationship—our relationship with God.
