Spiritual Renewal in the Holy Spirit

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts of the Apostles 1:8 (NIV)

We are always in need of spiritual renewal no matter how mature we are in our faith. “Spiritual renewal” is the term that Christians often use to describe what happens when God pours out His Spirit on His people, when He is free to work powerfully in and through His people to show the world how real, mighty, and good Jesus is. This is what Jesus
promised His followers in Acts 1:8. In short, “spiritual renewal” simply means “when the church is the way God intends it to be” rather than being spiritually sterile and stale as it is often found.

According to the Mar Thoma Church’s liturgical calendar (lectionary), we observed Sunday, May 19th as the Feast of Pentecost, which in the New Testament times was the first experience of spiritual renewal among the early Christians. The events of Pentecost are familiar to all of us. We know that on this day, the Holy Spirit was miraculously poured out
on the faith community, empowering it to carry on the mission of Christ by spreading the Good News. This was the early church’s first experience of spiritual renewal which came about through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, we can understand that the Holy Spirit is essential if spiritual renewal is to take place.

Pope Francis reminds us that being a Christian does not merely mean completing a checklist of things that are to be done but more importantly is about allowing oneself to be renewed by the Holy Spirit. To be fully renewed by the Holy Spirit requires a strong and devoted prayer life. In Acts 2, we see that both before and after the faith community was
renewed by the Spirit, it committed itself to prayer – united, ongoing, corporate prayer (Acts 2:42). Prayer is always connected to renewal not only because God is the only one who can renew us but also because prayer is the primary manner in which we express our need for renewal. We must pray that God continues to pour out His Spirit and the spirit of
prayer upon us.

On June 2nd, our parish was blessed to welcome six of our youths as full communicant members of the church through the First Communicants dedication service conducted by our Diocesan Bishop, Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham Mar Paulos Episcopa. Also in June, we plan to have our Annual Church Picnic and our Vacation Bible School. We encourage everyone to
prayerfully participate in our activities and ministries so that we can all be refreshed and renewed through our spiritual fellowship in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s pray for our own renewal, both as families and as a church, that God may stir our hearts and open our eyes to what He wants to do in and through us.

May God Almighty continue to pour out His Spirit upon us, making the miracle of Pentecost a reality in our lives!

With love and prayers,
Rev. Christopher Phil Daniel
Vicar, Jerusalem Mar Thoma Church
Connecticut