Guest blogger Sean Miller

A few familiar words from the Mass stop guest-blogger Sean Miller in his tracks and lead to a reflection on the power and love of the Holy Spirit  —  especially for those in crisis pregnancies.

The Giver of Life

As Christians, we say the Creed every Sunday, and midway through the prayer we acknowledge the Holy Spirit as the Lord, the “Giver of Life.”

When we recite familiar prayers, it’s easy to say them by rote without thinking. But the “Giver of Life”! These words can stop us in our tracks, when we realize what they really mean.

God is so generous that He allows us to partake in the process of creation. We become co-creators with the Lord, sharing in the dignity of creating our very own children.

As a couple unites, they share an expression of their love that may bring forth fruit, a beautiful baby. And this process of creation — with the power of  God — brings forth the creation of a soul, which is more precious to Him than all the stars of the universe. What an honor and what a deep responsibility!

This reality is often lost on modern man. And that perhaps is why he has also lost his reverence for life.

Life has become disposable. If somebody is inconvenient or looked on as a burden, then we take the liberty of simply discarding them. Is life so cheap? Can we just get rid of somebody because we don’t want to be bothered with their needs?

If so, what has become of us? For a country with some of the finest educational institutions in the world, it seems as if we’ve lost our minds collectively as a society. Have we become so smart that we’re stupid?

Well, maybe stupid is too harsh, but selfish seems to fit. We are the “me” generation, and we want what we want when we want it. And I think that mentality is what has led us so far from the human touch, the times when people seemed to genuinely care for one another.

What happened? Why is there such a deep hatred running through society? Perhaps we need to implore the Holy Spirit more fervently to replace the fire of hatred with the fire of His love — the true fire that will transform the entire world.

The Lord not only wants to give us life, but to give it to us abundantly. This requires trust, which can be scary at times.

But the Holy Spirit reminds us that the Lord will not give us more than we can handle, that he will strengthen us to do whatever He inspires us to do. We only need to call upon Him so that our despair can be turned to hope and our eyes will be opened to see the beauty of the gift of life.

For the Lord is the giver of all good things. Let us remind every woman who finds herself pregnant and discouraged that the Lord, the Giver of Life, will embrace her with His love and His promise to hold her and her precious little baby in the palm of His hand for all eternity.

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