Today is the feast of Pentecost.
Today we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the disciples He would send back the Holy Spirit to guide them and be an advocate for them. and today we celebrate that action.
Were it not for the Holy Spirit there would be no Church. Jesus founded the Church on the Rock of Peter but it is the Holy Spirit who animates and gives life to the Church. He is best understood as a verb/person, action personified in spiritual form if you will.
Today we tend to take the Holy Spirit for granted. Long time readers will remember that I feel the Holy Spirit doesn’t get enough of our attention. I’m guilty of that as well.
I live in a place that’s seeing very significant growth in our parish church and the Catholic Church in general. It is especially true here because of all the young people who attend college here. Even at the level of our archdiocese (Mobile) our parish gets a lot of attention about growth and new Catholics. When I’m asked about it I typically reply that the Holy Spirit is doing great work in this community. He is being helped by some excellent FOCUS missionaries as well.
There are a lot of possible factors in the renewed interest in the Church by young people. Covid may have played a role. I think Charlie Kirk has had a part. Maybe a renewed interest in finding meaning in our lives by young people. I think all of these things, and many others, are attributable to the Holy Spirit. I read things from people who work in OCIA around the country and the reports are similar. There’s clearly something happening and I think the Holy Spirit in right in the middle of it.
Certainly one of the great attributes of the Holy Spirit is that He can be present and active everywhere at once. That, I believe, is why Jesus needed to send Him back to us. As I mentioned previously, Jesus was constrained by His humanity in a way the Holy Spirit isn’t.
Having said all that I hope you’ll take a moment to ask the Holy Spirit to come to you and help you in whatever time of need you may have. In my work life I sometimes had to have difficult conversations with others, and there is always the chance you can make a situation worse by your part in that kind of conversation. I used to sometimes pray before meeting with someone when I thought the conversation would be difficult and ask the Holy Spirit to give me the right words to use and to keep me from making the situation worse. I believe it helped.
Come Holy Spirit…
This weekend is also Memorial Day weekend, of course. We remember all those who gave their lives for our country over the years in all the various wars, declared and undeclared. I hope you’ll remember them and their loved ones this weekend in a special way.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace, Bob
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