SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST A
RECEIVE THE EASTER GIFT
JN 20: 19-23
MESSAGE
I spoke with a young person who said he was doing everything to be close to God and yet he feels that God is still very distant from him. I asked him if he prayed, and he said yes, specially in moments of trials. I asked him if he went to Sunday Eucharist, and he admitted that he fails in this regard. I asked him when he last reconciled with the Lord in Confession, and he replied that it was a long, long time ago. No wonder then, he feels alienated. He needs the Holy Spirit to enter his life today!
The Holy Spirit is the Easter Gift of the Risen Christ. Just as on the cross, Jesus “gave up his Spirit,” (Jn 19:30) as he died for all of us, at the Resurrection he breathes on us the Spirit of peace and forgiveness. When Jesus gave up his Spirit on the Cross, the Spirit purified sinful humanity and reconciled it to God. Now the breath of the Spirit brings life back to disheartened disciples by being the living Presence of God among them.
In his earthly life, Jesus was the mirror of the Father; the human face of the living God. Thus, in Jesus we are united with the Father in a very real and concrete way. Now that Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand in glory, the Spirit is our effective and vibrant link with Jesus. We cannot now see the Father and the Son, but in the Spirit we are united with them in a circle of faith, hope, and love.
But the Holy Spirit is not an abstract power or an unseen force. He works among us, in history, in situations, in effective signs that bring us before God’s presence: in fervent and daily prayer, in the Sunday Mass, in the healing Confession and other sacrament. When we lack vitality in our spiritual life, the Holy Spirit invites us to enter into these concrete and energizing moments of grace.
REFLECT
Thank you, Lord Jesus for the Gift, the Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, and unite me with the Father and the Son each moment of my life. Amen!
VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS! VENI, CREATOR SPIRITUS!
