“It is by the Holy Spirit that we love and those who are united to us in Christ. The more plentifully we have received of the Spirit of Christ, the more perfectly we are able to love them: and the more we love them, the more we receive the Spirit. It is clear, however, that since we love them by the Spirit Who is given to us by Jesus, it is Jesus Himself Who loves them in us.” Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island
I often wonder and ponder how much of the Holy Spirit I can take in. It seems more I accept of the Holy Spirit the more he wants to give himself of me. It’s almost as if I feel that I can’t take any more of the goodness and grace the Holy Spirit pours upon me. It seems I will explode.
So I see the real challenge in spiritual life in following Christ is how much we can open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit regardless of how limited we think we are. The Holy Spirit knows the more of him in us, the more Christ-like we will be. He knows that by ourselves we are left to the whims of humanity, but with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we are constantly moving to divinity.
When we live and love in the Holy Spirit, we do not love with our love. Our love is conditional; our love is not pure, it is riddled with self-interest. So the only way we can truly be like Christ is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so in and with the Holy Spirit we become like Christ rather than remain who we are.
So as I ponder the greatness and mystery of the Holy Spirit, I ask the Holy Spirit to fill me far beyond what I think my capacity is for his indwelling in me. I freely surrender more of myself to the Holy Spirit. Whatever is in my sinful and selfish ways, I surrender. Shine the light on all my inner feelings which stop you, the Spirit of Christ for a greater indwelling in me. Give me the grace and insight to lessen who I am or who I want to be so that I may be all I can be in and with Christ. Holy Spirit fulfill me. I know the more you are in me, the less of me, I am and the better I can live and love as Christ