Today is the great Feast of Pentecost, the feast that ranks with Christmas and Easter as the greatest of the Church Year. It is the Feast of the Holy Spirit who enlivens and animates the Church.
Listen again to the account of the first Pentecost nearly 2000 years ago from the Acts of the Apostles.
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And 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.
Wind and fire are two symbols associated with the Holy Spirit, and they tell us a lot about how the Holy Spirit wishes acts in the Church and in our lives.
First, Wind is powerful. I’ve seen wind knock over trucks. Acts describes the Holy Spirit as a strong driving wind. Tornado winds can devastate villages and cities, and uproot trees, yet it can also turn gigantic turbines to produce power, and propel sailing ships across the sea. The Holy Spirit, propels the Church and grants her power and uproots the vices of her members.
Also, there is something unpredictable about the wind. You don’t know quite where it comes from or when it will blow. Jesus himself in John’s Gospel says, The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.”
That says something about the Holy Spirit, there is something elusive, unpredictable, and wonderfully so, about Him. He is unpredictable, a good of surprises. He surprises us with holy joyful moments and encounters and moments of prayer.
And yet, this also makes Him a little daunting. It’s daunting to surrender to something you can’t control. God might upset our applecart, and that’s scary. But he leads us sometimes where we do not want to go, in order to bring about his kingdom. Yes, it’s scary to surrender to God. He might ask me to confront my prejudices, kneel down to the level of a homeless beggar, he might ask me to become a priest or a religious sister, speak hard truths to obstinate sinners. He might blow us out of our comfort zones. No doubt, as we return to Church after the long pandemic, he is blowing us into the lives of family and friends, to invite them back to the Sacraments—to remind the fallen-away of goodness and love of God waiting for them here.
On Pentecost, the Church is invited to unfurl her sails once again, to allow the Holy Spirit to propel her into the world for the mission of the Gospel, to uproot our vices, to blow away the dust that has settled through inactivity.
Wind, fresh air, is needed continually for life itself. If your faith life or prayer life feels stifled, strangled, or stagnate, make a novena to the Holy Spirit to breathe new life, new enthusiasm, new joy into your soul.
The other great symbol of the Holy Spirit is Fire. Fire, can be devastating and destructive. Yet, it can also be cleansing. The Holy Spirit is like a cleansing Fire.
God wants to burn away the attitudes and behaviors which are inconsistent with the life of grace. God wants to burn away our selfishness, so that not an ounce remains, God wants to burn away our envy, our resentments, our lusts. If you are struggling with a particular temptation or sin, pray “Come Holy Spirit” burn this temptation away, burn this addiction away.
Fire brings purity. It also brings light. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Those purified by the fire of the Spirit will have the light they need to see God. They will understand more deeply the things of God. Do you want to come to a deeper understand of the Scriptures, of the Faith. Ask the Holy Spirit. Do you want to understand how to love your unlovable neighbors? Ask Him! Do you want to understand God’s Will for your life, your vocation in life? Ask Him!
Fire also brings warmth of course. In those moments when we are experiencing the coldness, loneliness, isolation, grief. The Holy Spirit will help us to know the closeness and love of God, and the closeness and love of his angels and saints. We also do well of course, to intercede for others experiencing life’s coldness, and to recall our vocation to bring the warmth of God’s love to them, if we can.
Finally, fire symbolizes the passion and courage God wants us to have for the spreading of the Gospel. After Jesus’ crucifixion, the Apostles hid in the upper room behind locked doors. Jesus had sent them outwards, out into the world, but they hid. They were more like Apostates, than Apostles. But when the Holy Spirit descended upon them with tongues of flame, they burst through the locked doors, into the busiest part of town and courageously proclaimed Jesus risen from the dead. 3000 people converted on the spot.
We need this sort of courage! In an era where our modern culture wants Christians to privatize their faith, to hide behind locked doors and keep our faith to ourselves—we need Christians on fire.
That is precisely our prayer for our four dear ones who will be confirmed this weekend—that they may filled with fire and wind—filled with the Spirit. Their Confirmation is a reminder to all of us, to dispose our souls, to open our minds, our wills, our hearts to the fire and wind of the Holy Spirit.
May the Holy Spirit—wind and flame—sanctify us, comfort us, enflame us, uproot our vices and protect us. Veni Sancte Spiritus, Come Holy Spirit, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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