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O Come Emmanuel, May We Rekindle Your Spirit. In today’s gospel, John the Baptist admonishes the Pharisees and Sadducees (the learned men of the day). He basically tells them that saying you are a believer is not the same as living as a believer. Advent is a good time for us to do our own self-review. Have we become complacent in our belief? Do we say we are Christians yet allow our actions to say otherwise? Jesus understands our struggle to live a life of faith in our very secular world. In His human form, He was able to overcome all evil. In order for us to follow His example, we need the gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and awe of the Lord). By using these gifts for the betterment of others, we will transform the world and generate more charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faith, modesty, self-control and chastity. In Church lingo, these are the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps some of these gifts and fruits have been getting a little dusty within us. Just like we clean our homes when company is coming, it may be time to do some internal dusting in preparation for Jesus’ coming. We need to rekindle the spark of the Holy Spirit within us. Fan the flames. Let the light of God within us shine for all to see.