The Coming of the Spirit

In just a few short days, we will celebrate the great feast of Pentecost. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, we celebrate the fullness of the Paschal Mystery. The saving works of Jesus Christ, beginning with His life, death on the cross, and resurrection, come to fulfillment with his ascension into Heaven and sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus promises that He will send another Advocate (John 14:16). If we can trust in the promises of Jesus, then surely we can trust in God's Spirit!

There seems to me to be a threefold manner in which the Holy Spirit comes to us.

First, the Spirit comes to each of us individually. Through our baptism, we are incorporated into the Body of Christ and called to be people of peace and unity (Ephesians 4). We are recipients of the abundant graces of the Spirit, Who alone allows us to call Jesus "Lord" (see 1 Cor. 12:3). This same Spirit endows us with the ability to speak in "foreign tongues"...that is, we are gifted and then challenged by the Spirit to proclaim Jesus Christ in our homes, schools, and workplaces.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our Church. The Spirit makes the Church holy, even when we, the members of the Church, do not act in such a way. The Holy Spirit breathes tongues of fire over the Church in every age in order to light the fire of missionary zeal and fervor. The Spirit gathers the Church together in the "upper room" with the other disciples, surrounded by the apostolic tradition and in prayer with our Mother Mary (see Acts 1:12-14). Again, our baptism into the Church community is immersion into the life of the Spirit!

Finally, the Holy Spirit is present in the world; the Spirit renews the face of the earth! In all that is true, beautiful, and good in the world, you will find the Holy Spirit. The Spirit sanctifies the world and prepares the world to receive the very gift of God-among-us. Renewal and abundance are hallmarks of God's Spirit in the world.

My prayer is that individuals in our Church and the world remain open to the coming of the Spirit. May we allow God's Holy Spirit to transform our hearts and bring us to greater unity and peace.