Seminars in the Keenan Rooms:
Wednesday 21st and 28th April 2010
Wednesday 5th , 12th, 19th
May 2010
Wednesday 9th and 16th June 2010
Information on how to attend will be coming soon.
What is a Life-in-the-Spirit
Seminar?
A Life-in-the-Spirit Seminar (LSS) consists of a series of talks
designed to help people realize the power of the Holy Spirit that
is available for every aspect of their lives.
Most of us have heard about the Holy
Spirit and most of us have learned about
the Holy Spirit, but many times that is as far as our experience
has gone. The Holy Spirit is a real person, a part of the Blessed
Trinity just like Jesus and the Father. We receive the Holy Spirit
through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Through what is
called the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a personal
conversion experience, the power that
is the Holy Spirit is
released within us.
One illustration that helps some people understand this concept
is through the image of a candle. It is designed with a wick that,
when lit, creates or releases its light,
so to speak; only at that time does the candle completely fulfill
the purpose for which it was created. Until then it may be pleasant
to look at, but it does not fulfill its purpose of emanating light.
The candle's ability to be a source of light is always within it
due to its design and the way it is made, but until something
happens to "empower" that candle, until the wick is lit, it lies
"dormant'" it does not fully become what it was designed to be. So
it is with all of us. We have been designed by God and empowered
with the power of the Holy Spirit. But until that power is
released, it lays dormant as does the
light of the candle. A Life-in-the-Spirit Seminar is designed to
help us yield to the action, empowerment and the power of the Holy
Spirit in our own lives just as He empowered the early church on
the day of Pentecost.
The seven, sometimes eight, talks given during a LSS are
designed to lead people through the basic message of salvation, to
understand the need within oneself for the release of the Holy
Spirit's power that already lies within them, and yield their lives
to the Holy Spirit and a life of joy and peace using His many
Gifts. The format is simple, informal and presented with balanced,
Catholic teaching based upon Scripture, the Catechism of the
Catholic Church, Church documents, personal testimony and prayer.
Opportunities are given in each session for discussion of how the
topic may relate to each person's life, but no one is required to
share more than he or she feels comfortable doing.
Many who have attended a Life-in-the-Spirit Seminar have
experienced God and the Holy Spirit in a way they had never done
before. It is not unusual for people to fall more deeply in love
with the Eucharist, with Jesus Christ and the Trinity, with the
Mass, and with the Bible, and many receive the
charismatic Gifts of the Holy Spirit just as the Apostles did
in the upper room on Pentecost. Those gifts are given to improve
our lives and the lives of our family, church and community.
Most of us have a relationship with God; some of those
relationships are closer than others are. It doesn't matter how
close you are to Him or how far away He may seem, He is calling
every one of us to deepen that relationship and He has nothing but
LOVE waiting for us as we accept His call. THERE'S
ALWAYS MORE of His love for everyone; all we have to
do is yield ourselves more deeply to it and receive it.
If you are at least open to the possibility that you can deepen
your personal relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
why not attend a Life-in-the-Spirit Seminar? It may change your
life!! It has for millions and millions of Catholics,
including priests, religious and laity, who are living a holier,
Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered life today.
Ron Bergman
Diocesan Liaison
Diocese of Rockford, Illinois, USA