Tag: holy-spirit

Pentecost Sunday

Celebrating Pentecost is an exciting time for all Christians, it marks the fundamental change that took place in Jesus’ disciples that took them from being frightened individuals, to being a bold collective force for spreading the Gospel message.

When the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples as they were in the upper room behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish authorities, there descended upon each of them tongues of flame that kindled within them an unquenchable passion to spread God’s word to all the people, and to hold nothing back in fear. In the space of those moments that this took place, the transformation from saturating fearfulness to fearlessness was achieved, and no more thought was given to what others thought of them, or what human beings could do to them. Human authority and status took their rightful place relative to God. All that mattered was the fulfillment of Jesus’ command. This is the power of the Holy Spirit at work, and it can be powerfully at work in us as well.

The transformative effect of the Spirit descending upon a person who is willing to receive it as God’s grace is profound. The question is whether we are willing to open ourselves to its power. God will not force his grace upon anyone. We need to truly long to be close to Him for this gift of the Spirit to be granted to us.

Let us assume for the moment that we are open to receiving Gods gift, what then? Will we too be transformed into someone who will boldly proclaim his word? Perhaps, or perhaps he will grant us through the same Spirit other gifts. Knowledge, wisdom, speaking in tongues, discernment, or any other grace that He chooses to render for the purpose of using us as part of His salvific plan. It could be anything that will benefit His will and plan to draw others closer to himself. We don’t know what He will choose for us, or when it will manifest, we need to instead trust that it will come when needed and in the exact amount that is required to accomplish what He has in mind to do.

In this season, when those who were in our RCIA class have now received the Sacraments, the next step is finding out where they functionally fit into their Church – this is the Mystagogy that is part of their journey, and in fact is part of each of ours. To figure out where we fit in and use the gifts that God gives us to serve Him more completely.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

I don’t know who coined the phrase “go with your gut”, but I have always been an advocate of it. I always interpreted its meaning as paying attention to an influence outside our own minds. To me this means the Spirit speaking to us. It certainly isn’t a literal acquiescence to listening to our stomachs, mine would simply provide continual guidance to the refrigerator. The real meaning here is to pay attention to the influence of the Spirit, that divine spark within us that is there to keep us out of trouble if we will simply listen a bit. To do so has become something of an art, because it requires tuning out so much more noise these days than what used to exist. It means being spiritually aware enough to know to even make this an effort. Lastly, it means using that same awareness to be willing to submit ourselves to the will that is its essence – God.

Jesus told his apostles plainly, that whoever truly loves Him, keeps his word, and that this word was ultimately that of the Father who sent Him. Yet he was also going to leave them help, just as he has provided us with help, by sending the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to guide us, so that we are not left alone. The Spirit guides us and teaches us, and the fruits of that guidance and teaching are the inner peace that Jesus bestows on us, just as He did for His Apostles when He left them with these gifts. The incredible beauty of these gifts having been bestowed upon us is that if we accept them and trust in them, we need no longer be troubled or afraid. We could use a bit more of that in this world that seems so filled with uncertainty at times. The uncertainty that I speak of is not just the events that sometimes cause us fear, but perhaps more importantly the uncertainty that is generated by doubts due to errant ideas and teachings being purveyed by many and causing us to sometimes question what we innately know to be right. This is really where the gift of the Advocate touches our lives the most, if we know the Spirits voice through practice and prayer, we will find that our doubts are dispelled, and our path is seen with clarity and peace of mind.

We need to spend time in prayer and reflection to gain intimacy with the Spirit, let ourselves be comforted, and come to know Jesus’ gift so that it is part of us every day of our lives. To me this means regaining the peace that I knew as a child, when my biggest concerns were how I would spend my day seeing God’s creations in nature, and with few other distractions. Perhaps you have your own recollection of when you found yourself to be most at peace and with deep intimacy with God, seek to go back to that. Ask God for guidance and don’t question what is revealed, simply rejoice in how He guides you.