Spirit

I belong to a Catholic Religious Order called "The Paulist Fathers."  We were founded in the United States in 1858.  Being an American founded order, we value freedom.  Now we also belong to the Roman Catholic Church which is not American and values Authority.  The Paulist Vocation looks to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God Energy, to show us the way to live out our vocation in Evangelization, Reconciliation and Ecumenism/Interfaith ministry.  Authority helps to be a check on rampant individualism, but freedom always looks for new and different ways to do ministry that is outside of what is or has been.  Authority tends to like "same ole, same ole."  In line with all this, many people are saying, "After Covid, let's get back to the way things were."  Why?  I ask myself what have I learned from Covid times?  The past was good for the past.  But maybe there are new horizons to follow.  If I wanted to get back to the past, I would be doing the same things in the same places all my life.  For a Paulist, that would be a rut.  The Holy Spirit is a challenge to be open and free of fear.