JANUARY 2022
NUDGED BY THE SPIRIT
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rowing up Catholic, I never heard much about the Holy Spirit. Years of parochial education imbued me with an appreciation of my status
as an adopted daughter of God and taught me that I could look to Jesus as a friend and brother for guidance and consolation. We spoke about the Holy Spirit during my preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation, but that was pretty much the extent of it.
As a college student struggling and praying to discern a path forward, I once joked that I needed God to “hit me over the head” so that I would know what direction He wanted me to take with my life. Very shortly thereafter, one of my fellow-choir members (accidentally) hit me in the head with his guitar. I took the hint from the Holy Spirit, made my decision, and haven’t looked back.
In recent years, the challenge of navigating difficult relationships with extended family members has led me to an understanding of what the voice of the Spirit sounds like to me. Tested by doubt and betrayal, I’ve learned to discern the nudges of the Spirit, which I often used to dismiss as mere “intuition”. I’ve come to trust myself and to trust the Holy Spirit to guide me— to use me, to transform me—when I find myself in the midst of conflict and chaos.
Te theme of the 2022 NPM Convention in Louisville, Tested by Fire: Renewed & Transformed, is rich and multivalent, evoking trials, suffering, rebirth, growth, and the Holy Spirit. In this issue, you’ll read about Lynn Eustis’s life-changing experience with cancer. You’ll meet Convention Plenum Speakers Laura Fanucci and Brenda Noriega. You’ll enjoy a preview of Tony Alonso’s MEGA Breakout on striving for truly intercultural Triduum celebrations. And you’re sure to be inspired by C. Vanessa White’s reflection on the transforming power of the Spirit. Of course, you’ll also
“I’ve come to trust myself and to trust the Holy Spirit to guide me—to use me, to transform me—when I find myself in the midst of conflict and chaos.”
find our convention schedule to get you excited for our time together this summer, whether you decide to participate in person or virtually.
We have certainly been tested of late. Suffering is an inescapable part of human life. But that’s not where the story ends. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened” (Mt 11:28). Let us bring our burdens to God, placing our trials on the altar. In so doing, we invite the Holy Spirit to renew us and transform our experiences as only God can imagine.
Nancy Douglass Editor
lseditor@npm.org
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