We have come to the end of our Easter
journey. We are not in the traditional
Easter color of white today, but rather have the liturgical color of red,
symbolizing the Holy Spirit. Yes, the
celebration of Pentecost is all about the Holy Spirit. But, we might ask ourselves: Who or what is the Holy Spirit? Is it a breezy force or a presence within
us? Is it a personal being or a
mysterious ghost? I remember one of the
prisoners in the prison remarking to me once that although he prays regularly
to Jesus and to God the Father, he doesn’t really comfortable praying to the
Holy Spirit, and he asked me if that was a sin.
I read an article recently that stated the following statistic: In a
recent poll, almost 60% of Christians in the United States see the Holy Spirit
as "a symbol of God's power or presence but is not a living entity."
Yet, in the midst of this, our last two
popes have spoken out a great about the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives and in
the world. Last year, Pope Benedict
asserted that all of us as Christians should avail ourselves of the Holy Spirit
in prayer, especially when we cannot find the words to pray. Benedict saw the Spirit as the strength in
our weak prayers, the light of our dimmed prayers, and the focus of our dry
prayers. He said that the Spirit will
inspire in us our inner freedom and will teach us to pray in times of trial,
assuring us that we are never alone and always have the presence of the Spirit
with us.
Pope Francis recently stated that many
of us tend to resist the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, especially when
the Spirit tries to push us beyond our comfort zones into something new. Francis said that we should get into the
habit of asking ourselves before the end of each day: What did Holy Spirit do
in me? What witness did he give me? Francis sees the Holy Spirit as the divine
presence in our lives that helps us move forward as Christians. He asserts that
without the presence of the Spirit with us, our Christian lives cannot be
understood.
In our Gospel today, we hear how Christ
appeared to his disciples in the locked room after his death, where they still
didn’t understand the ramifications of his resurrection, where they were huddled
in fear of the unknown. Christ brought
them a message of his peace, then he breathed the Holy Spirit upon them to be
with them and to empower them. That is
the Spirit that gave birth to our Church, that accompanies us today as we call
upon that Spirit to lead us and guide us on our journey of faith.
Our
psalmist today cries out to our Lord – “Come, Lord Jesus, send us your Spirit,
and renew the face of the earth.” The Spirit
is a reality in our world today. It has
its own existence and own function in the inner life of God and in God’s plan of salvation.
The Spirit is here to bring about the unity of the human race in the
Body of Christ. But, the Spirit also
imparts diversity in the midst of our unity.
Thus, we hear St Paul in his letter to the Corinthians talk about the
different spiritual gifts of the Spirit, the different forms of service, and
the different workings of the Spirit that are all a part of the same God.
Yesterday,
we experienced a special working of the Holy Spirit here at St James with the
Sacrament of Confirmation that some of our Catholic youth received from the many
different parishes throughout Northeast Mississippi. I see in so many of those youth a great joy
and enthusiasm for living out our Catholic faith. They enjoy helping others and reaching out to
those in need as an essential element of their faith. Many of our youth will be going on Catholic
Heart Workcamp trips to Jamaica and St Louis this summer, they will be bringing
Vacation Bible School to children in a couple of rural areas in our state who
would not have access to it, and will be traveling to the Mississippi Delta for
outreach in our own diocese. The Spirit
will help kindle within us a joy and energy of faith, and will push us past our
comfort zone and through barriers we would be afraid to cross.
As I mentioned, our celebration of
Pentecost officially ends of our Easter season, but it is up to each of us to
utilize the presence of the Holy Spirit that is with us and to live the message
of the risen Christ in our lives. The
spirit of Easter, the spirit of Christ’s resurrection, is to be alive and
active for us. Jesus is resurrected and
he ascended into heaven. Those events
did not just happen 2,000 years ago in ancient Israel – they are very much a
reality for us in modern America as well.
May we never forget that reality.
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