SPIRITUALITY 101 
SPIRITUAL REFLECTION- 92 
Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

DEVOTION - Growth in love- 3rd stage 
DEVOTIONALS- MEDITATION-SACRAMENTALS-THE ROSARY-18 
THE CREED-17

The tyrant Asclepiades had a twelve-year-old boy brought before him. "I am a Christian," said the boy, and he began reciting the Creed. "And why do you believe such things?" The boy explained, "I don't just believe these things, I know these things." "How can you be so sure," asked the torturer as he began to torture the boy in unimaginable ways. The boy simply said, "my Faith is strong, because the Holy Spirit lives within me." The torture continued, but the boy would not relent. Finally the boy said, "I am thirsty." The torturer only applied more pain and agony. The boy realizing that he would die, said, "soon, I will reach the fountain of life." The tyrant, who overheard this expression of faith, had the boy beheaded.

The boy was very wise, he possessed the knowledge of God with such surety that it could only have come from God Himself. Such strength is available to each of us, if we simply respond to the presence of God within us.

The Apostles Creed passes from faith in Christ and the importance of His birth, life, death and resurrection to our faith, to "I believe in the Holy Spirit." This article of faith serves a bridge from the establishment to the fulfillment of Christ's redemptive mission. His personal work of establishing His kingdom on earth was finished, but the fruits of His redemption were to pass on to all generations to the end of the world. It was the mission of the Holy Spirit to develop the fruits of redemption into a permanent mold. Because of this Christ said in His departing words to the Apostles; "I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes He will convict the world in regard to righteousness and condemnation; sin because they do not believe in me, righteousness, because I am going to the Father...condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned." (John 16:7-11)

Faith in the Holy Spirit draws us into a realm in which imagination is strained to think in material terms. The Holy Spirit is the eternal Love of the Father for the Son, and of the Son for the Father, providing the unity of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit as Love reveals God to us as a phenomenon, rather than a sensory image. We see the effects of the Holy Spirit, but as Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, using wind as a parallel, "...you don't know where it comes from or where it goes..." (Jn 3:8)

Religion is not a feeling or an emotion; it is a conviction and faith in God. The purpose of religion is to unite the human soul with God our creator, to lift us up from what is merely natural or that appeal only to the senses. It is the mission of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this for us. We usually see natural life as a living human spirit within our bodies. When the spirit leaves the body dies. The Holy Spirit, who was the breath of God, giving life to the dust of Adam and conceived the humanity of Christ in the womb of the Blessed Mother. This same Spirit empowered the Church to stand in the world in place of God, gives us a share in the life of the Holy Trinity. This sharing in the life of the Trinity is called grace. Through grace, we begin to live a supernatural life. This life acts like a gravity that pulls our mind, heart, spirit and soul toward God. With our bodies, made of earth and pulled toward the earth, the Christian lives a life of grace, suspended, as though crucified between heaven and earth. It is through this living a life of grace in the world, with our feet planted firmly in the soil of this earth, that the kingdom of God will come about.

THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM: THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT
ARTICLE No. 1021 

Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ ( 2 Tim. 1:9-10) The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, As well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul - a destiny which can be different for some and for others. (Lk 16:22; 23:43; Mt. 16:26; 2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23; Heb 9:27;12-23).

ARTICLE No. 1022 

Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immoral soul at the moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven---through a purification or immediately, ---or immediate and everlasting damnation. At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love (St, John of the Cross dichos 64)

JUDGED
Deacon Jim Breazile o.c.d.s.

When we end our life on earth 
We know that God will judge our worth 
Our faith provides us knowledge sure 
That our response to worlds allure 
Dictates our souls eternal procure

Christ assures our destiny 
If we follow Him and live life free 
But we must stand in scrutiny 
Of how we accepted His holy grace 
Rejection of His gift is our disgrace

Before the judgment seat we stand 
To receive the final command 
We will fully understand 
There is no chance of a remand 
From merciful justice' reprimand

Ó2001 DR. JAMES E. BREAZILE, deacon 
JOHN PAUL EVANGELIST OCDS