John Koza

Dear siblings in Christ, 

Lately I’ve been praying a new personal prayer: “Thank you God, I had no idea!”  It seems like over the past several months I have been surprised by scripture, or even more often, experiences that make me say “Thank you God, I had no idea!” The most meaningful of these experiences was the last Sunday in January, when Bishop Jennifer was here and my wife and I were received into the Episcopal Church. Three years ago that was not even on the horizon. “Thank you God, I had no idea!” 

We know that God working among us and through us is by the gift of the Holy Spirit. I have read that by percentage, most Christians easily pray to God the Father first, God the Son second, and God the Spirit last, if at all. I think I’m kind of “on fire” for the Holy Spirit these days and I turned to the Book of Common Prayer and found the following catechism on the Holy Spirit.  

Q. Who is the Holy Spirit?
A. The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity, God at work in the world and in the Church even now.

Q. How is the Holy Spirit revealed in the Old Covenant?
A. The Holy Spirit is revealed in the Old Covenant as the giver of life, the One who spoke through the prophets.

Q. How is the Holy Spirit revealed in the New Covenant?
A. The Holy Spirit is revealed as the Lord who leads us into all truth and enables us to grow in the likeness of Christ.

Q. How do we recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
A. We recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit when we confess Jesus Christ as Lord and are brought into love and harmony with God, with ourselves, with our neighbors, and with all creation.

Q. How do we recognize the truths taught by the Holy Spirit?
A. We recognize truths to be taught by the Holy Spirit when they are in accord with the Scriptures.

This is probably not new information for us, but perhaps we may be reminded of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Devotion to the Holy Trinity:

Low before him, with our praises fall,
Of Whom, and in Whom,
And through Whom are all;
Of whom, the Father, and in Whom, the Son;
Through Whom, the Spirit, with Them ever One.
Amen.
—From the Hymn “O Quanta Qualia”
Peter Abelard (1079-1142)
Saint Augustine’s Prayer Book

In Christ, 

—John