Pentecost

Dear friends,

 

We all need guides. GPSs to navigate unfamiliar roads. Instruction manuals to operate a new computer and most importantly, the power of the Holy Spirit to guide our actions and decisions. We need guidance – we need direction because we are human, prone to error. And fortunately for us, the Holy Spirit’s impact is more meaningful and long-lasting than a GPS or operations manual. This “friend,” consoler, confidant is here to help lead and guide us. But WHO is the Holy Spirit? We hear about Him in Scripture, in the Catechism, by the saints as fire, wind, water, to just name a few. But we also know that the Holy Spirit is a Person, a Divine Being, the third Person of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the manifested love between the Father and Son. The Holy Spirit is a person, a person with Whom we should cultivate a personal relationship with. 

 

In the Catechism we learn that Pentecost marks the spiritual and historical birth of the Church. In the weeks following Jesus’ death and resurrection, His followers continued to gather, but there was no meaningful movement deemed “the church.” Through the gift of the Holy Spirit: God’s gift, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit WHO has been given to us.”125 (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 3). 

 

In Scripture, the Holy Spirit is present in both the Old and New Testament, in varying forms. The Spirit of truth, our guide to all truth, was given through Jesus from the Father: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows Him.”  Jn 14:15-17 

 

So what does all of this mean? We need only to look to that moment of Pentecost to understand. Before He ascended into Heaven, Jesus, knowing that the early Christians did not want Him to leave, promised them that He would send a Consoler, a Friend, Someone to guide and help them. How profound is this? God, knowing that humans need companionship, gives us His love manifested in this way through our friend, the Person of the Holy Spirit. 

 

When we ponder this profound, amazing truth, it should stir our hearts to wonder. It should leave us awestruck at the lengths to which God will go to show us just how much He loves us. What if we acknowledged the Holy Spirit every day of our lives? A simple, “good morning, Holy Spirit” upon waking up, or “Come, Holy Spirit, please help me right now.” All of these acknowledgements enable our hearts to be in proper disposition towards God. All of these simple acknowledgements enable us to cultivate a relationship with God and eventually each other. 

 

My prayer for you and for all of us here at Miles Christi is that our hearts will be set ablaze with the fire and zeal of the Holy Spirit in a way that makes us so invisible that all people can see is God at work in our lives. May we become so consumed by this burning, Holy, Pure, fire that we cannot help but share Him in every area of our lives. St. Bonaventure once said, “The Holy Spirit comes where He is loved…where He is invited…where He is expected.” Together, let us invite the Holy Spirit to be our everything, because, after all, we are His everything…

 

Come, Holy Spirit, Come!

 

Prayer for Union With the Holy Spirit

O Holy Spirit of Light and Love,

to You I consecrate my heart, mind, and will

for time and eternity.

May I be ever docile to Your Divine inspirations

and to the teachings of the holy Catholic Church

whose infallible guide You are.

May my heart be ever inflamed

with the love of God and love of neighbor.

May my will be ever in harmony with Your Divine Will.

May my life faithfully imitate the life and virtues

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him,

with the Father,

and You, Divine Spirit

be honor and glory forever.

Amen.

~ St. Pius X