Today we celebrate the great solemnity of Pentecost, the fiftieth day since the great celebration of Easter. Today’s feast actually takes us back to Ash Wednesday, at the start of Lent, when we heard to “repent and believe in the Gospel.” Throughout Lent, we began to become aware of the spirit of the world that plagued our hearts and we asked the Lord to heal us. When we reached Easter, we realized that this belief—that our Lord could heal us—we realized that this belief was credible: if Jesus could be raised from the dead, then maybe He could actually save us. Fifty days have passed since Easter and so we may now ask: why is this day so important?
In a word: because now we see that it is possible to become holy. The Holy Spirit makes it possible to become holy; that we can actually be freed from our sins pre-Lent; that we can actually live a new life in Christ. Specifically, that we can—and even must—become saints. For that is what the Holy Spirit has the power to do: to change us, you and me, and to transform us into saints. And I say the Holy Spirit has the power to do that because the Holy Spirit is the Love of the Father for the Son and the Love of the Son for the Father—that Love is so personal, so eternal, so infinite, so almighty that it is God. The Holy Spirit is God. And with God all things are possible—including and especially turning you and me into saints.
+++
Admittedly, I haven’t always thought of the Holy Spirit as powerful, much less necessary.
When I was growing up and in the seventh grade, I remembered going to school “mixers.” This is where boys and girls would go the school gym on a Friday night and meet up for a dance—and mix. Inevitably, the girls would be on one side of the gym and the guys on the other, against the wall, really, and then a slow song would come on. And the boys would ask the girls to dance—a slow dance—Lady in red… is dancing with me—and, inevitably, we would hear the voice of an adult chaperone: “Hey kid, leave room for the Holy Spirit.”
If you don’t know chaperone speak, that means “you’re dancing too close.”
Leave room for the Holy Spirit? Sounds like the Holy Spirit is getting in the way of my game…
Later on, when I was confirmed, I received a lapel pin of a dove—because, you know, the Holy Spirit is like a dove. But this didn’t impress me, either. I mean, if the Holy Spirit was so powerful, then why wasn’t He a hawk or an eagle? A dove was too fluffy, weak.
And,
later on, I would hear about the “Holy Ghost.” This also didn’t do anything for
me; after all, I ain’t afraid of no
ghost.
+++
So
that was my relationship with the Holy Spirit until I reached grad school. In
grad school, I took a class in theology and the professor was talking about the
Holy Spirit. I decided to challenge her: Why
do I need the Holy Spirit? I mean, if Jesus saves me, then so what about the
Holy Spirit? He seems non-essential.
The look she gave me, I thought I had ran over her dog.
With great patience, she replied to me:
Consider
what the Holy Spirit has done in history.
How is the bread and wine changed at
Holy Mass? By the power of the Holy Spirit.
How are sins forgiven? By the power
of the Holy Spirit.
How is a man ordained? By the power
of the Holy Spirit.
How were the scriptures inspired? By
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Prophets prophesied by the power of
the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist was sanctified by the Holy Spirit. And Mary—how
did she miraculously conceive of our Savior? By the power of the Holy Spirit.
And look at the Apostles in the
Upper Room. Tongues of fire descended upon them—which was prefigured by the
mystical burning bush and by the frightening pillar of fire that turned away
the Egyptians. On that same Pentecost, a mighty wind—the very breath of God
(which is called ruah or, in Latin, spiritus) rushes upon them and makes a mighty sound.
This wind was prefigured by the very ruah, the spiritus, that blew upon the Red
Sea and divided it in two.
And consider how the world was
created: When it was a formless waste and water, the Spirit of the Lord
descended upon it and the earth was created. In the Psalms, we pray: Lord, send out
your spirit and renew the face of the
Earth.
Without
the Holy Spirit, there is no renewal, no Scriptures, no forgiveness of sins, no
priesthood, no Eucharist. In short: without the Holy Spirit, we do not have
access to Jesus.
And this makes sense because Jesus Himself said: “I must send you the Holy Spirit. And when He comes upon you, you will know the Truth. And the Truth will set you….”
She paused. She had me.
“… Free,” I replied.
In that Upper Room, the same Upper Room where He had given then the First Eucharist, the same Upper Room where Matthias had been ordained, the same Upper Room where He had literally breathed on them, He now on Pentecost was giving the fullness of His Spirit.
“Peace I leave you, peace I give you. Not as the world gives, do I give you.”
Truth. Freedom. Peace. What amazing gifts Jesus gave as He breathed, spiritus, on them.
+++
The words of that adult chaperone come to my mind again, now, but this time as a question:
Have you left room for the Holy Spirit?
Do you have a relationship with Him? Do you treat Him as essential to your spiritual life?
After all, you were baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the …. Holy Spirit. And you make the Sign of the Cross in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the … Holy Spirit.
I don’t know about you, but over the past two years, I have found myself at times feeling “stuck” or not making progress in my spiritual life. Have you felt stuck over the past two years? Have you felt at times that you are not making any progress, that you are kind of in the same place where you were years ago?
I think a lot of us have this problem at times. How is it to be addressed?
I am confident of the solution. Each day, invite the Holy Spirit into your life. And you can do it with three simple words:
Come, Holy Spirit.
Say this prayer every day and I guarantee you will grow. You will become holier, because this is what the Holy Spirit does.
Now, I must also issue a warning. Jesus “gives not as the world gives.” There is a spirit of the world. The devil is a spirit; a fallen angel; and he is behind the spirit of the world. The spirit of the world brings about bitterness, resentment, envy, jealousy, lust, pornography, greed, restlessness, anger, laziness, hopelessness, violence, and death.
If we don’t ask for the Holy Spirit and make room for Him, then we will be gobbled up by the spirit of the world. You may not experience hopelessness or violence at first; you may simply experience the malaise of looking at your phone for the thirtieth time today and being bored. Boredom is a clear sign that you are falling into the spirit of the world.
The Holy Spirit brings you peace and freedom and Truth and joy and charity and generosity and goodness and chastity—and I could go on listing the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And this is what Jesus wants for you.
+++
Finally, if you want to get unstuck, in addition to praying “Come, Holy Spirit,” start to place yourself in places where the Holy Spirit can be found.
He inspires (literally “breathes into”) the Sacred Scriptures, so start reading Scripture—even if you don’t understand it, you will be encountering the Holy Spirit and He will help you. Join a Bible Study.
Make a deeper commitment to Sunday Mass and to Confession—yes, even and especially during the summer months. For how do the Sacraments happen? By the power of the Holy Spirit.
Do these things and I guarantee you—I guarantee—you will find yourself more free, and growing again, and even becoming more holy.
And if you persevere to the end, you will find yourself something that you never thought that you could ever be:
A
saint.
In
the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
