Pastor’s Keyboard: “To often we are acting out of desperation and not contemplation”.  This is so often the temptation we suffer in the midst of a world that seems to be changing and moving faster and faster.  I’m sure many of you, like me, have found yourselves in situations where you start to feel overwhelmed by circumstances outside of your control, or by the complexity of issues and problems that come before you that you can’t avoid.  Often these require an answer or a decision that seems beyond us. Yet there is the answer, waiting for us.  It is during these times in life we most need to turn to the Lord in silence and in prayer.  Here we need to ask the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, for guidance and trust. Trust? Yes, trust! The Lord has promised us that He will “never leave nor forsake us”. Do we believe Him? Sometimes we don’t think, speak or act like we do. We get so caught up in making the “right decision” that we fail to focus on the fact that God wants to aid us in our decision making. Even if we do make the wrong choice, God is still going to be there to love and seek us. He is ready to help us. It’s here that we come to see “how limited we are and how limitless He is”.

The Feast of Pentecost is here again, the readings, the prayers, and the songs are all trying to remind us of the fact that “God is truly with us” and for us!  So much so, that at baptism God gave us His own Spirit “the Holy Spirit ” to fill us and to guide us in life and through death to eternal life.  Therefore, we can rejoice. We need to make sure to turn to the Holy Spirit frequently, especially in the tough decisions we will all need to make in the coming days. The Holy Spirit is the fruit of the love between God the Father and God the Son. Remember that the scripture tells us, “Perfect Love cast out all fear “. May we allow this love to permeate our thoughts, words, and actions.

Your Brother and Father in Christ,

Father Scott Woods