Simbang Gabi 2018 6: Empowered by the Holy Spirit

SIMBANG GABI 2018 6

YEAR OF THE YOUTH

DECEMBER 21, 2018

Jesus, I trust in you!

Upon discovering from the angel that her elderly cousin Elizabeth was pregnant, Mary set out in haste to visit her and attend to her needs. But it was not her alone who went to visit nor was Elizabeth alone who was the object of the visit. Mary was carrying in her womb the Son of God who had just been incarnated. On the other hand, John the Baptist has been living in his mother’s womb for six months then. Mary went to visit Elizabeth. Jesus went to visit John. Mary went to visit Elizabeth to help her through a difficult pregnancy. Jesus went to visit John to sanctify him with the Holy Spirit even though he was still in his mother’s womb: “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb,” so said the angel to Zechariah at the temple. Little did Mary realize that she was doing more than just assist her cousin for at that moment when John was sanctified in his mother’s womb, Jesus was already saving him. That moment of charity became a moment of salvation. Beneath what was visible, something invisible was wonderfully taking place.

The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and thus made the Incarnation possible. But let us not forget that the Holy Spirit did something more in Mary. He inspired her to go to Elizabeth. In fact, the conversation between Mary and Elizabeth was a Spirit-filled conversation. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped for joy and she, filled with the Holy Spirit, declared Mary’s blessedness as Mother of the Lord.

Young people, the Holy Spirit whom John received in his mother’s womb is the same Holy Spirit we received on the day we were baptized. He is the same Holy Spirit who overshadowed Mary and empowered her. Thus, you and I are empowered also by the Holy Spirit. He empowers us with his supernatural gifts. As our helper, the Holy Spirit in us empowers us to live lives that radiate the goodness of God. He helps us to be who God created (intended) us to be. He is the power who sustains, energizes, and keeps us on a holy path. The Holy Spirit makes us holy. He purifies us from our sins through the Sacrament of Confession. He helps us convert and be Christ-like. He transforms us into the image of Christ. The Holy Spirit directs and helps us to do the will of the Father. The Holy Spirit imparts to us gifts that will help us serve the Church. He empowers us to fulfill the calling God has placed on our lives. He pours on us the love of God to sustain us through difficult moments. He keeps hope alive in us through such moments by reminding us that we are constantly loved by God. He helps us pray most particularly when it seems too difficult to pray because our sorrows are too great. He reminds us of what Jesus said and taught us, especially when the trials seem to be too great. And most of all, the Holy Spirit makes us witnesses for Jesus. As the Holy Spirit pointed out to John the Baptist the hidden presence of Jesus in the womb of Mary, so also does he point out the hidden presence of Jesus to the world. This is what we testifies to us. He keeps reminding us that the Lord is near. He reveals to the world the Gospel and he does this through us. Therefore, we should not shy away from being advocates for Christ. Nor should we worry about what to say. The Holy Spirit will put these words on our lips. And those words will be powerful words. Look at what the Holy Spirit placed on the lips of Mary. It was just a greeting but when this greeting reached Elizabeth’s ears, the baby in her womb leaped for joy. Through that greeting, John was sanctified.

We are an empowered people. Baptism gave us the Holy Spirit. Let the Spirit make us go in haste to bring the Gospel to our friends and to all people. Young people, you are gifted. More than just your innate talents, you are gifted with something more. You have received the Holy Spirit. Go and share the Gospel. In the power of the Holy Spirit, be disciples. In the power of the Holy Spirit, make disciples.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Pentecost Meditation: The face of the world renewed

Renew the face of the earth!

Jesus, I trust in you!

On the night of Easter Sunday, Jesus appeared to his disciples. By his crucifixion and death, he entered into the glory of his Father. Returning from the Father, he rose from the dead. Behind the locked doors, Jesus came to meet his disciples. Coming from the other side of the grave, Jesus gave them his precious gift. He breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit is the Risen Christ’s gift to his disciples. The sending of the Holy Spirit is the very fruit of Christ’s death and resurrection. He died on the cross so that he could give us the Holy Spirit: “If I do not leave you, the Paraclete will never come.” We say that the Lord died on the cross so that our sins may be forgiven. The forgiveness of sins is made possible by the Holy Spirit. That is why when Jesus breathed on his disciples, he said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.” By giving them the Holy Spirit, Jesus gave the apostles the power to forgive sins.

By sending the Holy Spirit to his disciples, Jesus completes the Easter mysteries. The sending of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles is the beginning of a new era in the history of the world. At the Responsorial Psalm we said: “Lord send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.” Indeed, through Pentecost, Jesus is renewing the face of the earth. And the Church is the renewed face of the earth. We say this because the Church is the new family of God. It is the family of the redeemed. It is made up of people whose sins are forgiven. It is composed of people who have been transformed into children of God. The Church is the new creation.

And this world which is constantly in fear is truly passing away. It is tired and old. It is to this world that we are sent by Jesus: “As the Father sent me, so I send you.” He gives us the Holy Spirit so that we may go forth into the world and preach the Gospel. The Church is founded by Jesus and Christ’s Holy Spirit, given to the Church in a permanent manner, acts in her as a powerful force; the Holy Spirit inspires and directs the Church in the preaching of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit enables the Church to carry out in the world to the end of time the redemptive and sanctifying work of Christ. The only way for the world to be renewed is by receiving the Gospel and by receiving the Holy Spirit. It is only the Holy Spirit who can heal the wounds of sin. Only he can renew our strength. Only the Holy Spirit can wash away the stains of sin. Only he can melt the stubborn heart and will. Only he can melt the frozen heart. Only the Holy Spirit can warm our cold and hardened hearts. What the world needs is the Holy Spirit. And we are sent to the world to offer it the Gospel and the Holy Spirit.

Let the world burn…not with the fires of terrorism, but with the fire of love coming from the Holy Spirit. Let us ask the Lord to embolden us with the Holy Spirit so that we may spread the fire of his love to all the earth. The fires of terrorism are spreading rapidly. We have to work more aggressively to fight fire with fire: the fire of terrorism, we must fight with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Let us spread the gospel of love and forgiveness. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to transform us and the world. Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth! 

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Becoming fishers of men

St. Andrew the Apostle

I was ordained a priest on the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. I consider it a great honor to be ordained on this feast because St. Andrew was one of the first to the called by the Lord. As he walked by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the Lord Jesus saw the brothers Peter and Andrew casting their nets. To them he gave the invitation: Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men. I like those words "fishers of men". The Lord called them and myself to become "fishers of men." The work of fishermen is really very simple. All they had to do was cast the net into the sea and haul into the boat whatever is caught in that net. I realize that my job as a priest is simply to cast the net and haul in what is caught. The Lord called me to be a fisher of men, not a member of a screening committee. All I have to do is to keep the Church door open and welcome anyone who enters through it. It is not my job to screen people and decide who should be deemed worthy to enter the Church and who should not. When a person finds his way to the Church, he has not done it on his own, Rather, it was the Father who called that person to approach his only begotten Son. It was the Holy Spirit moving in his soul. The fisherman simply casts his net and does not determine which fish should be caught in it. He hauls into his boat whatever the net catches. My task as fisher of men is to welcome those who find their way into the Church. It is not even my task to convert them or to touch their hearts. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.  Only the Holy Spirit can convert hearts. Only He can change lives. Only He can sanctify sinners. Only He can deify men. And I am not the Holy Spirit. I can only cast my net by preaching. Whatever happens to those who listen to what I preach is not within my control. I can only cast the net by celebrating the sacraments. Whatever happens to those who receive the sacraments is no longer my turf. Moving hearts, converting lives, sanctifying sinners, deifying men...all these are the work of the Holy Spirit. I can only cast the nets and nothing more,

Come, Father of the Poor

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

“Come, Father of the poor! Come, source of all our store! Come, within our bosoms shine!” (Ama ng mga maralita, dulot mo’y pagpapala upang kami’y magkusa.)

We bring to an end today a journey which began ninety days ago when we all came to church in order to receive ashes on our foreheads. At that time, we heard the ministers of the Church remind us of the poverty of our human nature: “Remember man that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” God created the human being out of clay and breathed into him so that the human being became a living being. He gave us a spirit, a Divine consciousness (isang maka-Diyos na kamalayan) so that we can say that man, consisting of body, soul, and spirit, is the image and likeness of God. Something so low, so humble as clay, is given the dignity of being the image and likeness of God.

But sin destroyed our likeness unto God. Sin brought us to the depth of human misery which is death. We said that at death, man loses everything. That is why death is the ultimate poverty: man is reduced to dust. Seeing the poverty of man, God sent his Son who descended not only by embracing our human nature but went further down by humbly accepting death on a Cross. Last week, we saw how the Father exalted Jesus far above the principalities and powers. The Lord Jesus, at his ascension, brought our lowly human nature with himself. It was not only the Divine nature that returned to heaven. The human nature which is assumed at the incarnation we brought up to heaven as well. The ascension was the deification of the human nature.

Today, from the Father’s throne, the Risen Lord sends to us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Father and the Son descended upon the Apostles on Pentecost Sunday. We received the same Holy Spirit on the day of our baptism. God descends upon man to dwell in us as in a temple. The Holy Spirit restores to us what sin took away, that is, our likeness unto God. He refines our human nature and then deifies it. The Holy Spirit gives us more than just enlightenment during examinations. He gives us Divine life. He gives us himself. Thus, he is called the “Father of the poor.” He is sent to us and transforms our poverty into the Divine likeness. The Holy Spirit is the forgiveness of our sins. He is the “most blessed Light divine” who fills our innermost being. He is the closest that God could be with us because he dwells within us.

And so the journey is complete. Man, who came from dust and was reduced to dust, now is the living temple of God. Let us always cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Let us allow him to heal the wounds of our sins and to renew our strength. Let us beg him to wash away the stains of our guilt. Let us ask him to refine our human nature, to “bend our stubborn heart and will.” By our obedience to the Holy Spirit, may we, at the end, receive the sure reward of virtue, which is salvation. Holy Spirit, renew our hearts. Renew the face of the earth!

Jesus, I trust in you! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Unseen and yet ever present!

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

This coming Thursday will be the 40^th day of Easter and the bible tells us that Christ our Lord ascended into heaven on that day. Oftentimes, people think of the Ascension as the farewell of the Lord to his disciples. The Lord says goodbye because he is leaving them. He is going home to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. However, the gospel today says otherwise.

The Lord is not leaving his disciples. Rather, he is simply disappearing from the sight of the world. But this does not mean that he is abandoning his disciples. Remember the story of the disciples at Emmaus: they recognized Jesus at the breaking of the bread and then, he vanished from their sight. “He disappeared but he did not abandon them,” Blessed John Paul would say. The Lord Jesus said in today’s gospel reading: “In a little while, the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live.” The Lord himself assures us that even though the world does not see him, we will continue to see him living among us. He will continue to be with us and we will continue to recognize his presence in our midst. And the one who will help us recognize the Lord Jesus in our midst will be the Holy Spirit: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

The Lord will not leave us orphans. He will come to us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gathers us and brings about the presence of Jesus who said: “Whenever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.” The Holy Spirit transforms bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us the baptized gives us the interior witness to Christ. He is the Spirit of Truth. He teaches us what is true. He teaches us that Jesus is alive and is among us. The Holy Spirit brings about our communion with the Blessed Trinity: “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.” Although he sits at the right hand of the Father, Jesus continues to remain in us and we continue to remain in him. And the sign that we remain in Jesus is our obedience to his commandments: “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me, and whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” We obey his commandments not out of fear but out of love. We love the Lord whom we encounter everyday through the Church and through the Sacraments. The more we love him, the more we keep his commandments. And the more we keep his commandments, the more he reveals himself to us. And as he reveals himself to us, our love for him increases. Thus, we become caught up into the “vicious” cycle of love. We are caught up into the communion of life and love with the Blessed Trinity.

Therefore, let us strive to remain in the Lord who promises to remain with us always. “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts,” said St. Peter in the 2^nd reading. Let us continue to give blameless witness to the Lord by keeping his commandments. Let us keep our consciences clear. Let us remain in his love.

Jesus, I trust in you! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

  

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

At the end of the Easter Season, the Church brings us back to the upper room where Christ first appeared to his disciples on the evening of Easter Sunday. Recalling the events on that evening helps us see Pentecost in the perspective of the Paschal Mystery. Before our Lord passed over from the world to his Father, he told his disciples that it would be better for him to leave for if he did not do so, the Paraclete would never come. But if he leaves them, he will send the Holy Spirit from his throne at the right hand of the Father. By his passion and death, the Lord Jesus entered into his glory. Thus, as he rose from death, he gave the Holy Spirit to his disciples when he appeared to them. He breathed into them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit. Whatever sins you forgive, they are forgiven.

By dying on the Cross, the Lord Jesus reconciled us with his Father. His death atoned for our sins. This forgiveness of our sins is brought about by the coming of the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Holy Spirit and his dwelling in our souls is the sure sign that all is forgiven and we have been reconciled to God. Adam and Eve enjoyed the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When God created Adam, he breathed into this creature and so Adam became a living being. This Divine Breath that animated Adam was the Holy Spirit. However, both our first parents lost this indwelling of the Holy Spirit when they sinned. Thus, although they were physically alive, they were spiritually dead. Thus, St. Paul says: Through the disobedience of one man, sin entered the world and together with sin entered death. Without the Holy Spirit, man would be spiritually dead. And this spiritual death is the inheritance which our first parents gave all humanity. This is called Original sin. Every human being is born deprived of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who gives life to the soul. Thus, St. Paul says: all men have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. The glory of God did not dwell in the human soul as the consequence of the sin of our first parents.

Thus, when Jesus died and rose from the dead, he restored to us what sin has taken away. He restored to us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Because of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit returns to his temple which is the soul of the baptized. By baptism, we received the Holy Spirit. We are no longer deprived of the glory of God because God the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Original sin, which is the deprivation of the soul of the glory of God, is taken away by Baptism because the Holy Spirit returns to the soul and dwells in us as in a temple. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us brings to us the forgiveness of our sins. He sanctifies us and makes us participate in the communion of the Holy. The Holy Spirit in us gives us a foretaste of the future resurrection. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us allows us to enter into the dwelling of the Blessed Trinity: My Father will love him and we shall come to him and dwell in him. The Holy Spirit seals us and marks us for redemption.

Through the waters of Baptism the Holy Spirit brought about our rebirth. We were reborn as Children of God. We were reborn into the Church, the community of the redeemed. Let us rejoice today for the Holy Spirit has created us anew. We are a new creation. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.

Jesus, I trust in you! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit vs. Demonic Possession

As we are in the Octave of Pentecost, it is good to continue meditating on the Indwelling of the Holy

Spirit. We said that God could not have made another way to be closer to us than what he does in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He does not come to stand above or below us. Nor does he stand before nor behind us nor beside us. he dwells in us.

As we talk about the Holy Spirit, we have to clarify what we mean by "spirit". Ordinarily, people associate "spirit" with ghosts. And we can partly agree with this for in former times, we used to refer to the 3rd Person of the Trinity as "Holy Ghost." But on account of the fact that English is a living language, the nuance of "ghost" has changed for the frightening. And so we now say "Holy Spirit".

But what do we mean by "spirit"?  A spirit is a disembodied being that knows and wills. Angels and demons are spirits. The Holy Spirit is obviously a spirit. The difference between them is that angels and demons are created spirits (they are creatures) while the Holy Spirit is uncreated (He is God). The difference between angels and demons is that the angelic mind is oriented towards the Truth while the demonic mind is oriented towards a Lie. The angelic will is inclined towards the Good while the demonic will is inclined towards evil. Of course, the Holy Spirit's mind is the Truth (He is the Spirit of Truth) and His will is the Good (He is Holy). 

The Holy Spirit dwells in our souls. We received him on the day of our Baptism. He dwells in our souls to transform our minds and orient them to the Truth (who is God). He dwells in our souls to transform our will and orient it to the Good (who is God). 

On the other hand, in a demonic possession, the demon takes over (dwells) in the human body and not in the soul. His objective is very simple...he wants to kill and destroy. The father of the possessed boy said to Jesus: "It has often thrown him into fire and water to kill him." (Mk. 9 - Monday 7th Wk in Ord Time). But of course, while the devil can make the body of the possessed his plaything, he cannot enter the soul where the Holy Spirit dwells unless...the person opens the door of the soul and lets the devil enter. The devil is like a roaring lion in search for someone to devour. But he stays outside the heart until the door is opened from within and he is invited to enter. This happens in the person's willful cooperation with the devil in mortal sin. And when the door of the soul is opened to let the devil in, the person closes his heart to the Holy Spirit and rejects Him. Jesus himself said, "No one can serve two masters. He will love one and despise the other..." In mortal sin, the person loses the indwelling of the Holy Spirit whom he rejects and drives away. Losing the Holy Spirit who is the Giver of Life, the soul dies. Thus, the plan of the devil is accomplished because he came to kill and destroy. This is the reason why mortal sin is called "mortal" - it kills the soul.

The only way to revive the dead soul is by the sacrament of Confession. In the Sacrament of Confession, the Holy Spirit returns to his dwelling in response to the contrition of the penitent. the Holy Spirit brings about the forgiveness of sins and also he infuses the Divine Life into the soul. Thus, He restores what sin has taken away and once again He transform the person's mind and heart unto the mind and heart of Christ.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is God's most precious gift to us. Let us take care of this gift. Let us preserve the Divine Life in us through regular confession and frequent communion.

Awaiting for the Son and the Holy Spirit

St. John the Baptist attests to the greatness of the one who comes after him: I baptize with water but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me whose sandal straps I am not worthy to untie. This greater one who comes after him is the one who, in last Sunday’s Gospel, will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

Whenever we celebrate Advent, we presume that we are preparing for the coming of Jesus, the Son of God. Thus, we presume that St. John the Baptist was referring to Jesus as the one “who is among you whom you do not recognize.” However, seldom do we realize that it is not only God the Son who was hidden and unrecognized in the past. So also was the Holy Spirit. The Catechism points out: “From the beginning until the ‘fullness of time,’ the joint mission of the Father’s Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work. God’s Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Neither is fully revealed but both are already promised, to be watched for and welcomed at their manifestation.” (CCC 702.) In fact, we should know that the mission of Christ and the mission of the Holy Spirit are inseparable: “When the Father sends His Word, He always sends His Breath. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the visible Image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who reveals Him.” (CCC, 689). The Prophecy of Isaiah reveals the inseparability of both the Son and the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me.” The reason why Jesus is called the Christ, the Messiah, is because He is anointed by the Holy Spirit. Messiah means “Anointed One.” Jesus is the Anointed One and the Holy Spirit is His Anointing.

Thus, in the Old Testament, “Two prophetic lines were to develop, one leading to the expectation of the Messiah, the other pointing to the announcement of a new Spirit.” (CCC 711) Thus, the prophets of old did not wait only for the Messiah. They also awaited the Spirit who would renew the face of the earth. These two prophetic lines will be fulfilled by Jesus who does not come alone, but one who comes anointed by the Holy Spirit. He comes to bestow the Holy Spirit: He will baptize with the Holy Spirit. “The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are oracles by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of the promises, with the ‘accents of love and fidelity.’ …According to these promises, at the ‘end time’ the Lord’s Spirit will renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace.” (CCC 715)

And that time, the “end times” referred to, is now. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost inaugurated the end times – “By his coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to enter into the ‘last days’ , the time of the Church, the Kingdom of God already initiated though not yet consummed.” (CCC 732) Isn’t this what Advent is all about? It is not simply a preparation period for Christmas, the annual commemoration of Christ’s first coming. It is also the preparation for Christ’s coming at the end of time. Christ has already come and by his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, has delivered to us the Holy Spirit whom He promised. Now, as we joyfully await the glorious coming of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit is at work to prepare us to face the Lord Jesus. How does the Holy Spirit do this? St. Paul gives the answer: “May the God of Peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” As the prophets cooperated with the Holy Spirit in preparation for Christ’s coming, so should we, in preparing for the Lord’s 2^nd coming, cooperate with the Holy Spirit: Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances, give thanks…Do not quench the Spirit…Test everything, retain what is good. Refrain for every kind of evil.”

Pentecost Meditation

The Easter mystery is brought to its completion with the coming of the Holy Spirit. On this 50th day of Easter, the Church brings us back to the evening of that first day of the week when Christ, risen from the dead, first appeared to his disciples. It was then that our Lord breathed on his disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Blessed Columba Marmion said that the sending of the Holy Spirit, “like every other grace, was merited for us by Jesus. It is the fruit of His Passion; Christ purchased it by the sufferings endured in his sacred humanity.” (Marmion, Christ in His Mysteries, 377.) Before he suffered, the Lord assured his disciples of the necessity of his departure so that he could send them the Holy Spirit: “If I do not leave you, the Paraclete will never come. But if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7) By suffering and by dying on the Cross, Christ merited for us the grace of the Holy Spirit. The generous outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church is the very fruit of Christ’s labor.

The Holy Spirit in the Blessed Trinity “is the completion, the ending of path, the consummation of life in God; He closes the interior cycle of the wonderful operations of the divine life.” (Marmion, 380.) What does this mean? In the interior life of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is the mutual love of the Father and the Son. Thus, the Holy Spirit completes the cycle of love in the Trinity. Because of what He is in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit completes, crowns, consummates everything in the work of grace and sanctification. “He is the Divine Artist who, by his finishing touches, brings the work to its sovereign perfection; He is the ‘Finger of God’s right hand’. The work that is attributed to the Holy Spirit – in the Church, as in souls – is that of leading to its end, to its completion, to its ultimate perfection, the unceasing labor of holiness.” (Marmion, 380-381.)

How does the Holy Spirit bring the unceasing labor of holiness to its ultimate perfection? First, he does this by leading us to all truth: He is the Spirit of Truth who will lead us to all truth and remind us of everything Jesus taught us. He gives us the interior witness to the Lordship of Christ. Thus St. Paul said to the Corinthians: “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” He is the One who convinces us interiorly that this Jesus of Nazareth is the One truly sent by God and made Lord of all. Because the tongue is the organ of speech by which witness is given and preaching of the name of Jesus is spread throughout the world, therefore on Pentecost day, the Holy Spirit descended visibly in the form of tongues.

But he also descended in fire. Tongues as of fire appeared and rested on the disciples. This is so “because the Holy Spirit comes to fill with love the hearts of the disciples. He is Love in person, subsistent Love, in the life of God. He is also like the breath, the breathing-forth of the Infinite Love from which we draw life. It is recounted in Genesis that God ‘breathed the breath of life’ into the matter formed from the mud of the ground. This vital breath was the symbol of the Spirit to whom we owe our supernatural life. On the day of Pentecost, the Divine Spirit brought such an abundance of life to the whole Church….By descending upon them, the Holy Spirit infused into them that Love which is Himself. It was necessary that the apostles be filled with love, so that in preaching the name of Jesus they might make the love of their Master arise in the souls of their hearers. It was necessary that their testimony, dictated by the Holy Spirit, be so full of life as to attach the world to Jesus Christ.” (Marmion, 382.)

It is by Truth and Love that the Holy Spirit perfects us in holiness. It is by guiding us to Truth that the Holy Spirit delivers us from the deceptions of this world and brings us to Jesus, the One and the only one who can truly give us life. It is by increasing us in Charity that the Holy Spirit brings us to a greater share in the life of God who is Love. Therefore, let us always listen and submit ourselves to him who is both the Spirit of Truth and the Love of God poured into our hearts. “Be faithful to this Spirit who comes within us, with the Father and the Son, to take his abode there. ‘Do you not know that you are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells within you?’ (Eph 4:30) Every increase of grace is like new a reception of this divine Guest, a new taking of the possession of our soul by Him, a new embrace of love.” (Marmion, 390.) To him, we say: “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.”

Pentecost

Pentecost Sunday is a fitting end to the Easter Season because the mystery this day commemorates brings to fulfillment the entire work of the Paschal Mystery. Christ our Lord suffered, died, resurrected from the dead, and was glorified so that he may give to us the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “If I do not leave you, the Paraclete will never come.” The coming of the Holy Spirit completes the work Christ was sent to do on earth.

A few Sundays ago, we heard from the book of the Apocalypse: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away…and I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem…The One who sat on the throne said, “Behold I make all things new.” By his resurrection, Christ makes all things new. But how does he do it? The Responsorial Psalm gives us the answer: “Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.” The Holy Spirit was the instrument by which God created the world. In the book of Genesis the world was described as covered with chaotic waters and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. This world which was created by God in goodness was destroyed by sin. “Through the disobedience of one man, sin entered the world and together with sin entered death.” Because of this, God creates a new heaven and a new earth by sending us his Son whose death brings forth to us the Holy Spirit who renews the face of the earth. The Holy Spirit descends on a Sunday, on the first day of the week because on the first day, God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. Evening came, morning followed, the first day. Pentecost Sunday is the first day of the re-creation of the world. On this day, God makes all things new.

Thus, the coming of the Holy Spirit renews the world. Pentecost Sunday is the day of renewal. He brings forth a new earth. He transforms us into a new creation through the Sacrament of Baptism. Some Sundays back, Jesus said to us, “I no longer call you slaves for a slave does not know what his Master is about. Instead, I call you friends because I have told you everything I heard from my Father.” Jesus calls us friends because he reconciled us with the Father through the Blood that he shed on the Cross. Once, we were enemies of God but now we are his friends, thanks to the Blood which was the price of our freedom from sin. However, at the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Lord does something more for us. We are not just friends. We have become sons and daughters of God. “Those who are led by the Spirit of God is a son of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’” The Holy Spirit whom we received at baptism brings God so much closer to us: “My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” The Holy Spirit dwelling in us is the pledge of eternal life. Baptism, which gives us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is the first day of our eternity. Unless he is driven away by our mortal sin, the Holy Spirit will dwell in us for ever: “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.” This is the newness which Christ’s resurrection ushers into the world. The Holy Spirit comes to renew the face of the earth.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.