The power of the Holy Spirit in us


Pentecost

John 20:19-23

Ten days after Jesus' ascension to heaven, the apostles received the Holy Spirit.  From then on, the Good News is being proclaimed right at this very day.

All of us are proclaimers of the Good News.  We are recipients of the Holy Spirit.  What does it do to us?

First, we are reborn

The "powerful wind from heaven" that filled the room gives an image of the powerful God who breathes life to the soil in which man is created.  Now, with Pentecost, he again breathes unto us a new Spirit, a renewed spirit that makes us "new creation" in Christ.  Let us be more aware if our Catholic ways are bereft of life or dynamism or it is life-giving to others.

Second, tongues of fire

The tongues signify the authority of the apostles to proclaim, to teach, to instruct the faith about God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  It signifies the authority of the Church to proclaim the truth and give life.  Are we "hot" in proclaiming the Word like fire or are we simply lukewarm in faith?

Third, unity

There becomes one voice, one understanding; eventually, it became one people.  The disunity of Babel was healed by the power of the Holy Spirit to various men and women and caused them to be one heart and one mind in Christ.  This is the real definition of Church.  It is not based on greed, power, comforts, and luxury, but rather, on a deep yearning to create the community of disciples and a Church of the poor.

Let the Holy Spirit touch our lives so that we may become the true disciples Jesus wishes us to be, instruments of the Holy Spirit.

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