"Trusting in the Lord"

by Father Raymund Reyes

Our natural reflexes allow us to react, without thinking, to anything that comes to us. We jump or cover our face when we are shocked or scared. We try to grab to something if we are falling or we bend down whenever something is flying toward us. Without stopping and thinking about it, we just react. Our natural reflexes always discharge an appropriate action. But what about our inner reflexes? What is our inner reflex when suddenly faced with a tough situation? How do we react when children rebel, friends betray us or when relationships crumble? How do we react when our doctor broke the sad news of our terminal illness or someone we love passed away?

In such situations, emotions like fear, anger, disappointment, sadness, jealousy, vengeance and anxiety come to us naturally. Although they become a part of our human experience, we should not stop there. We have a choice whether to remain in these miserable situations or allow ourselves to grow around them and become renewed in the process. We can resort to our compulsions and habits to temporarily forget our desolate moments or rely on the gifts that were given us through the Sacraments. Evidently, it is the choice to embrace God's grace through Jesus and the unity of the Holy Spirit that could bring us renewal.

This year's theme of the Holy Spirit Conference, September 16-18, "Trust in the Lord with all your Heart" (Proverbs 3:5), affirms the choice to rely on God's blessing of renewal through the Holy Spirit especially in our moments of trials. The three-day teaching and praising conference seeks to rekindle those who make the choice for God's blessing with the power of the Holy Spirit for ministry in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. It is our duty indeed as Christians to trust in the Lord with all our heart by believing in the good we can become out of the many challenges that come our way. For those who bear the gifts of the Holy Spirit, renewal is our common gift and our inner reflex. Come and celebrate God's gift of Renewal through the Holy Spirit Conference on September 16th thru the 18th, at Riordan High School in San Francisco.

Fr. Reyes, Pastor of St. Anne of the Sunset, is the newly appointed San Francisco Archdiocese Liaison for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

View Announcement/News Article.

Visit SFSpirit.com for information for the upcoming Annual Holy Spirit Conference.