The Holy Spirit, Electricity, and Soda Bread in Salt Lake City

I heard a beautiful sermon Saturday night and it sparked a memory.

One day a little boy said to his father, “I don’t believe in the Holy Spirit. I can’t see him. How do I know he’s there?”

Luckily, his father worked for the electrical company at a power station. Later that night, he took his son to work to see the water pouring into the turbines causing them to turn. They watched for a bit and the father said, “Can you see the electricity?”

A frown crossed the boy’s face and he shook his head. “No.”

His father then took his son over to a window that overlooked the lights in the city sparkling like a blanket laid out across the valley. “But can you see the effects of electricity?”

A smile glimmered in the boy’s mahogany brown eyes. “Yes, I can see that.”

“So you know it’s there because you can see its effects.”

A wide grin took over the boy’s face and he wiggled and laughed. “Yes!”

The Holy Spirit speaks in the language of love. We know the Holy Spirit is there because we see the effects of the language of love. On St. Patrick’s weekend, the Ladies of Charity at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish sell soda bread as a fundraiser for our services in Salt Lake City. We are working extra hard this year because we are hosting the Ladies of Charity USA National Convention here in Salt Lake City. After the Saturday night Mass that weekend, a young man was there with his wife and child. The soda bread was spread out on the table and people were in line, buying. He waited until the line was gone and then asked to buy what was left. He said that he didn’t want any for himself so that we could just give away or resell what he ‘bought’. After he paid for what was on the table, he noticed a box under the table. He asked what was in it.

“More bread,” was the answer.

“Oh, so you’re holding out on me, eh?” He ‘bought’ what was under the table as well.

The total of what he gave us was about $195. We made close to $600 in one weekend–- a record for soda bread sales.

We had never seen that man or his family before that day. We don’t know who he is.

But the effects of his actions sparkle before us as bright as the blanket of lights the little boy saw when his father taught him how to see the Holy Spirit.

I think the Ladies of Charity organization knows how to speak the language of love. I hope we can show others how to see the Holy Spirit. And I know that man showed us how to see the Holy Spirit as well.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Salt Lake City in September. By the end of the conference, the Holy Spirit will be flowing out of us like a mountain waterfall!

Lori Donnester, June 2018