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Thnx.

Of course the welcome (that act of faith, the invitation the believer makes to Christ) is itself enabled by God's grace. It's the distinction between "indwelling" and "influencing", that I need to cogitate on.

Here's a nice sentence from the prayer of consecration in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer:

And here [I would gesture to the gifts - the bread and wine] we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, our selves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable [that is, able to reason], holy, and living sacrifice unto thee; humbly beseeching thee, that we, and all others who shall be partakers of the Holy Communion, may worthily receive the most precious Body and Blood of the So Jesus Christ, be filled with they grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with him, that he may dwell in us, and we in him.

Related concept?

[.. Here's a nice sentence from the prayer of consecration in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer: ..]

Thats what Buddhists do.. Write down prayers and repeat them over and over again.. They even put them on prayer wheels.. There are different kinds of prayer wheels(i.e.rosary).. or repeated rote prayer.. Prayer to a Robotic God..

The Buddhists actually write down prayers of various kinds even praise and adoration put it on a prayer wheel and let the wind turn the wheel thinking the Robotic God will even hear, know, and care.. The Buddhist God is either a Moron.. or an Appliance..

Some christians do the same thing in essence..

It's the distinction between "indwelling" and "influencing", that I need to cogitate on.

Well, using the Catholic view, if the Holy Spirit indwells at confirmation, then what happens leading up to that event? I don't know what the normal experience is, but I would imagine that most of the young people actually want to go through the whole process of the experience (classes, etc.). It would occur to me that that would normally be very un-young-person-like. :) At that age I know I wouldn't have had any interest in any faith. For those preparing for confirmation, that would be the influence of the Holy Spirit before He indwells.

Here's a nice sentence from the prayer of consecration in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer: ... Related concept?

Wow, that is a lot to chew on. :) I suppose my initial reaction would be "no" because Jesus specifically said that He would send the comforter BECAUSE He would no longer be "with them". HOWEVER, of course Matthew ends with Jesus telling them He would always be with them until the end of the age. So, at least we can get that part straightened out. :)

Now, another thing I consider is that when the Holy Spirit indwells, I have the mental picture that He isn't renting. :) Once He moves in, that's it. He has taken stake. He closes the seal from the inside, and the seal cannot be broken. As His children, we were bought for a price (1 Cor. 6:19), and underneath the seal it says: "Property of God". :) So, in my conception of it, He never leaves.

But another consideration is that the Father, Son, and Spirit are all ONE. So if the Spirit indwells us and is "with us" does that mean that Christ isn't? That doesn't "sound" right, which of course makes the prayer very related. But then I would have no idea how to understand a repeated Communion somehow sustaining an indwelling.

I trust this explains everything in full. No need to thank me, just doing my job. :)