The Power of Pentecost: Come, Holy Spirit!

Christine Hanus rejoices in the birthday of the Church at Pentecost and ponders what happens when we allow the Holy Spirit to move in and through us.

The Catholic Church will soon celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. The account of the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles is told in the second chapter of the book of Acts, and it never fails to capture my imagination.

In my mind’s eye, I watch the events unfold in the upper room, where the apostles were gathered after the death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus:

Suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. (Acts 2:2-4)

null

The Apostles Needed the Holy Spirit

Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus said to His apostles: “Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).

Christ made it clear that without the Holy Spirit, His apostles could not do the work He had done. They could not grow in virtue. They could not accomplish the mission He gave them. It was only after Pentecost that the Church was able to live, thrive, and grow. Even though they had just spent three years with Jesus, the leaders of the Church Christ had established couldn’t do anything without the indwelling of the Spirit.

The Story Continues … With Us

Two thousand years later, we need the Holy Spirit more than ever!

Through Baptism, the third person of the Holy Trinity makes our bodies His temple, a gift that is “confirmed” in the sacrament of Confirmation. This is how Christ gives us the power to know Him and the Father, and to do what He calls us to do.

But the Holy Spirit, even as He lives inside of us as baptized Christians, is only as active as we allow. We must implore Him daily to work in us. With our free will, we can choose to fan into flame the gift of the Holy Spirit and truly be transformed and impowered, or we can quench the flame and even allow it to be extinguished in us.

Saint John Paul II observed,

Whenever the Spirit intervenes, He leaves people astonished. He brings about events of amazing newness; He radically changes persons and history. (Meeting with Ecclesial Movements and New Communities, May 30, 1998).

null