Chocolate Milk and the Holy Spirit

Growing up as a kid I can remember the many joys of going into the fridge grabbing our 2% milk, Hershey syrup along with a glass and spoon.  It didn't take a scientist or theologian to know what was going to happen next.  But I thought I would provide a visual!

Chocolate milk!!!  

Needless to say, as long as there was Hershey syrup in the fridge, milk was always going to be in high demand!  Little did I know my favorite drink when I was little (lets be honest, even now!) would be a great theological lesson on the presence of Holy Spirit/God in my life!

Our lives are like the milk!  And the chocolate syrup represents the Holy Spirit that The Lord pours into our lives!!!  What happens when we enter into relationship with God and the Church through Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation?  We are infused with the Holy Spirit!  We actually become temples of the Holy Spirit! But many people wonder why they don't see the effects or the change in receiving the Sacraments.  And many people point to the hypocrisy of many Christian's out there.  It's not that God isn't there.  Believe me He is there.  We just need the spiritual spoon to bring it into our lives!  

Think about this, when I was a kid and I poured the chocolate syrup into my glass of milk, I didn't just let the syrup sit on the bottom of the glass.  If I did that, very little of the chocolate would make it into the milk.  And if I were to drink the glass of milk, the chocolate syrup would have been wasted.

Think of this, Christ came and proclaimed that he came to give us life, life to the full (abundance).  What The Lord is actually saying in translation - I have come to give you not a life of regular milk, but something that is sweet and awesome.  I've come to make chocolate milk!  How sweet is that!  But it can't just be a passive effort in just receiving Baptism, Eucharist, or Confirmation.  Just receiving these Sacraments without stirring is a waste of the gift The Lord wants to give you. 

The Lord will ask for us to account of the gift He gave us!  He will ask us if we took the time to stir up the Holy Spirit.  We will be asked to account for the chocolate syrup in our milky lives.  Was our lives transformed?  Did we keep the glass stirred?

The interesting thing about the chocolate syrup and milk analogy is that I had to keep the spoon in the glass.  After every sip, I would continue to stir the glass!  Why?  So that I would enjoy every last drop of chocolate milk, otherwise the syrup would eventually make its way to the bottom of the glass only to be wasted and washed down the sink.  We have to keep stirring our hearts for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We can't remain passive in our faith.  Otherwise the Holy Spirit, like the syrup will be wasted.  How do we stir up the Holy Spirit in our lives?  Take time for prayer; be open for the movements of The Lord in our lives.  Go to Confession!  Seek constantly the grace of forgiveness and mercy that The Lord wants to give you.  Go to Mass, receive The Lord in the Scriptures and in the Liturgy of the Eucharist!  Allow The Lord to work presently in your life, start offering yourself up to The Lord!  

I guarantee if you do that, your life will be transformed and a whole lot sweeter!