Drifting can be floating free, at ease, falling asleep, And dreamy, too. Drifting can be wandering afar, listless, and confused. It can also be stubborn. I pray and I wish to be the former. I fear and I know I am the latter. When I want to be lifted up, I fix my eyes to the heart. When I want to be pulled down, I let my eyes run wild. I hate that. Let not the winds of the world Toss me about like leaves Drifting and blowing Like scattered thoughts and sinful whims. Send the H

Why do I take the man-made paths Twisted and turning With fits and stops along the way? Overgrown with brambles Created by a mind Built by its own importance Fleshed by a heart Stirred by the demons lurking beneath. Intercede for me all you saints! Show me, Most Holy Mother! The way back to the path Your Son spoke into existence Trod by His own feet Washed by His own blood Resurrected by His own Ascension! Illumined by the Holy Spirit! This is the path of deification Born of

St. Basil the Great (329-379), one of the Early Church Fathers who lived in the Cappadocian Region (which today is central Turkey), defined for the Christian Church the theology of the Holy Spirit. Take a moment now to consider what he writes in Chapter 9, No. 23, in On the Holy Spirit*, about how the Third Person of the Trinity changes the Baptized and Chrismated. First, the Holy Spirit consoles, lifts up, and illuminates. Second, He provides us with supernatural spiritual g