Pentecost Sunday

Today’s readings remind us of important realities about the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the Church.  First, in the Acts of the Apostles, at Pentecost in Jerusalem, the Spirit gave the disciples power, as symbolized by the wind and fire, to preach and spread the gospel to the world.  Secondly, as Paul explained to the Corinthians, the Spirit is the source of a variety of gifts, given to each individual to use to build up the community of believers.  And thirdly, in John’s gospel, the Spirit was given first on Easter night to be the source of mercy and forgiveness.

Yet, as the Collect for today’s Mass tells us, the Feast of Pentecost is not only for recalling “the divine grace that was at work when the Gospel was first proclaimed,” but we go on to pray that the Holy Spirit will sanctify us and “fill now once more the heart of believers.”

In order to know the power of the Holy Spirit who seeks to make us holy, we need to cooperate with the Spirit.  We need first to discern what the Spirit offers us, what the Spirit may be telling us, what the Spirit is prompting us to do, and then we need to cooperate with God, who will not force us to do anything, but instead offers grace and then waits for our response.  We have to be people of prayer who are willing to surrender our own wishes and desires to those of God.  Then we can work with the Holy Spirit, or better put perhaps, to allow the Spirit to work most effectively with us.

Secondly, we need to be obedient.  Jesus saved us from sin and death through his obedience to the will of the Father.  He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that the cup might be taken from him, but in the end he surrendered and was obedient.  Read the life of any saint and you will see suffering and obedience.  Again, both require a surrender to God who loves us and seeks to use us to further the reign of God in our world today.  Disobedience puts outside of the life of grace.  The way to holiness, which the Spirit desires for us, is obedience. 

Finally, we need to trust the Holy Spirit to do within us and for us what we cannot do on our own.  The Spirit desires to use us, but we need to be humble and trusting in order for that to happen.  We can expect temptations to do things our way, or to fear that God will not be there when we need help, or to take a break from the path of holiness in order to have an easier life.  But by trusting the Holy Spirit each and every day, we are strengthened against such temptations and other attacks from the devil.

A good friend often quotes her mother, “You don’t ask, you don’t get.”  God delights in giving gifts, so we ought to ask for gifts from the Spirit, again, each and every day.  Strength, mercy, and surrender to God’s will are powerful gifts that the Holy Spirit will pour into our hearts.  And all we need do is ask and then trust. 

“God, fill now once more the hearts of believers!”  Amen.