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"Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20).  How is Christ present in their midst?  Through the Holy Spirit.  "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world: (Matt. 28:20).  How is Christ always with us?  Through the Holy Spirit.  Because of the Comforter's presence in our heart, we do not simply know Christ at fourth or fifth hand, as a distant figure from long ago, about whom we possess factual information through written records; but we know him directly, here and now, in the present, as our personal Saviour and our friend.  With the Aposte Thomas, we can affirm, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).  We do not say merely "Christ was born"--once, very long ago; we say "Christ is born"--now, at this very moment, in my own heart.  We do not say merely "Christ rose" but "Christ is risen"--he lives now, for me and in me.  This immediacy and personal directness in the relationship with Jesus is precisely the work of the Spirit.

Kallistos Ware
The Orthodox Way
Pages 93-94 (All italics Ware)

Post Edited (One Love) : 4/6/2010 2:56:09 PM (GMT-5)