By Jacqueline Kelly –
The most wonderful thing can happen to you is meeting the Lord Jesus and experiencing the abiding, transforming power of His Spirit at work in you. God has sent the Spirit of His Son to remain with us forever. Jesus and His Spirit are inseparable in God’s plan.
So, are Jesus and Mother Mary “for God sent His Son born of a woman “, whose name is Mary. With Jesus at the centre, true Catholics have a unique place in their lives for Mary. Mother Mary is the luminous shadow, the most beautiful sign, the clearest revelation of the Holy Spirit.
There is a parallel between the Annunciation and Pentecost. God completed at Pentecost what he began at the Annunciation. At the Annunciation, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Virgin Mary, and the Word was made Flesh. God became Emmanuel. At Pentecost, the same Spirit descended upon the followers of Jesus, and they became the new body of Christ, the Church where Emmanuel lives and works forever.
The Presence of Mary on Pentecost Day, has a very special significance. Her powerful intercession and expectant faith moved God to open the heavens and pour out His Spirit.
At Pentecost, the Church was officially born. The Church is made up of hierarchy [ordained ministers] and laity. Members of the hierarchy are assisted by the Holy Spirit as they exercise their pastoral office of teaching, guiding and sanctifying men. And the same Holy Spirit moves the faithful to listen, respect and obey them as representatives of the Lord. But, the Church is much more than just a visible society. It is the mystery and sacrament of God’s salvation; it is the heart, the hands, the eyes, the feet… the body of Christ.
Jesus Christ lives and works in the Church by the Holy Spirit, and the action of the Holy Spirit is by no means restricted to members of the hierarchy. The Spirit moves freely in the Church, and he does so in mysterious ways, distributing his gifts to members of both hierarchy and laity and introducing those to new forms of prayer and intimacy with God. The result is the mystic dimension of the Church.
Where one finds the Church, one finds the Spirit of God. The secret of sanctity lies in the devotion to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps in the sanctification of the soul. Surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit and let Him lead and guide you and you will never go astray. Let Him fill and strengthen you and you will never be alone or afraid. Call on Him always. He is only a Prayer away. He dwells within you for you are His Temple.
God’s plan is not only to give His Spirit, but to give Him without measure. The early Christians were a Spirit-filled people. One of them decided to write the History of the Church and he wrote the History of the Holy Spirit. That is the BOOK OF ACTS.
On Pentecost Day, the Holy Spirit came upon Peter and his friends with mighty power [Acts: 2]. Peter was instantly transformed into a new man and a great champion of the new faith. Out of an obscure fisherman the Holy Spirit raised the first Pope and leader of the Christian Church. Peter carried the Good News to the very heart of the Roman Empire and in the end he bore witness to His Master by dying like Him, nailed to a Cross.
Tradition has it that he asked to be crucified head down as a sign of humility.
In order to live as true children of God and as true disciples of Christ, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit as were Peter and the early Christians. The experience of Pentecost changed Peter.
The same experience is open to us 2000 years later. Pentecost is not just an event of the past; it is an on-going reality. God keeps pouring out His Spirit upon every generation, upon every human being ready to receive. And in our own days, God seems to be in a mighty hurry to pour out His Spirit upon His children. This is what makes the Charismatic retreats so exciting.
One of the healthy effects of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is that we have been reminded of the presence of and the practice of praying to the Holy Spirit. Jesus entrusted His Church to the Holy Spirit. But, sadly the Holy Spirit has for quite some time remained “the forgotten person of the Blessed Trinity”. We have only to read the Acts of the Apostles, which some have called “The Gospel of the Holy Spirit” to see for ourselves the impact that the Holy Spirit has made on the life of the Apostles and the early Church. It is to the Holy Spirit that Jesus has entrusted His Church.
One reason why the Holy Spirit is “invisible” to many Christians is simply because it is hard to envision or relate to the Spirit as a Person. The Holy Spirit, far from being “invisible” should be a Christian’s closest and most familiar companion. The Bible tells us that if He is missing from your life all you need to do is invite Him in, asking Jesus and the Father to send the Holy Spirit to you.
Holy Spirit of God came to us in Baptism, enriching us and making us God’s children. Through Confirmation, we received God’s gift in full.
The Holy Spirit is the gift of the risen Christ and His loving Father. Through Him we pray to the Father and share in the fruits of the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the inspirer of all prayer. He is united with us in every thought, word and action which we offer to the Father, so that the life of the Risen Christ is always at work in us through His inspiration.
All through the centuries, the prayer-life of Christians has been lived under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Many of the well-known prayers of the Saints and ancient prayers are relevant to today’s age precisely because they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
We appreciate the Spirit at work in the lives of Christians through prayer. In prayer, we live the life of the Blessed Trinity. The keystone of our worship is the Eucharist in which Christ is both our victim and spiritual food. The Holy Trinity decides the redemption of mankind and we must collaborate with it. The Christian life is, therefore, the life of the Blessed Trinity. Created by the Father, redeemed by the Son and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. We live out our destiny in the Church and world through prayer and the sacraments. This is our Christian vocation. Thanks be to God for the great gift of Himself dwelling within us – The Holy Spirit.