Unfortunately, we Catholics can have some misconceptions about our faith. There are some Catholics who see Easter as signifying Easter Sunday, when in fact, Easter is an entire season. Today, we celebrate the 6th Sunday in Easter. Our Easter season concludes in two weeks, with the celebration of the Ascension of our Lord next Sunday, and then Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit the Sunday after that. In last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard Philip struggling with his faith and his belief in God, as he asked Jesus to lead him to the Father, that this would be enough for him. This week, in the Acts of the Apostles, we hear from Philip again, about his ministry to the people of Samaria. But, who exactly are the Samaritans? They were the people who lived in what had been the northern kingdom of Israel after it had been overtaken by the Assyrians in the 8th century before Christ. The Jews who had lived there had inter-married with the pagans who came into that land. Although they worshiped Yahweh along with other Jews, their religion was not considered mainstream by the others Jews, and they were considered to be unclean. After the stoning of Stephen and the beginning of the persecution of the disciples of Christ, these disciples dispersed to different parts of the Ancient World as missionaries. Philip went to Samaria, where in the name of Jesus, he cured many of the sick and those possessed by unclean spirits, bringing them into the Way of Jesus. The apostles in Jerusalem rejoiced when they heard this good news, sending Peter and John to Samaria, where they called down the Holy Spirit amongst the Samaritans.
Today’s readings focus on the Holy Spirit, preparing us for the celebration of Pentecost in two weeks. But, in our understanding of the Trinity, sometimes we can understand the persons of the Father and the Son, but the Holy Spirit may seem more ethereal and nebulous. The word spirit comes from the Jewish word “ruach,” meaning “wind” or “breath” or an invisible moving force. The word “ruach” appears more than 400 times in the Old Testament. In psalm 51, the psalmist pleads, “A clean heart create for me, O God; renew within me a steadfast spirit. Do not drive me from your presence, nor take from me your holy spirit.” The Jewish tradition taught that when the Messiah came, God’s very own life, God’s very breath and spirit, would pour out upon all the faithful.
At the Last Supper, Jesus promised his disciples the Holy Spirit, his spirit with us after he departs this earth. Jesus promises us that we will not be alone, that we will not be orphans. We will have his risen presence with us: in ourselves, in our brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Church, in God’s holy word, in the Sacraments of the Church, in our Christian community, and in prayer. And in all these things, God is present through the enlightening presence of the Holy Spirit, in the teaching and action and guidance of God’s Spirit. The indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit nourishes us each time we receive the Sacraments, each time we pray, each time we worship together, each time we do outreach in God’s holy name, and each time we read God’s word.
A story is told about a little boy flying a kite on an extremely windy day. The kite kept going higher and higher. The kite went so high that the little boy could not see it any longer. A man saw the little boy holding onto the piece of string. When the boy explained that he was flying a kite, the man asked him: “How do you know you still have a kite up there?” The boy replied, “Because I can feel it. I know that it is there.” Although the Holy Spirit is something that we cannot tangibly see, although it works in very mysterious ways most of the time, we can still feel the presence of the Holy Spirit with us, the Spirit of God leading us and guiding us. In faith, we are all called open our minds and our hearts to hear the Holy Spirit and to obey the Spirit’s promptings in our lives.
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