A Personal Pentecost
Margaret Farrell wonders aloud at the first Pentecost and how to allow Him to enliven us now.
I wonder if you ever think about what it must have been like to be in the Upper Room on that first Pentecost? What changes were effected upon that rather mixed group of people who had gathered there to pray, to support and comfort one another? Well, if you read the Acts of the Apostles it becomes very clear that their lives were changed radically by that outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon them.
There are many artistic representations of Pentecost. One of my favourites is by an African artist, whose name I have sadly forgotten (if I ever knew it) and it caught my imagination by the energy displayed. The believers were not sitting meditatively with tongues of fire, but were up on their feet, dancing or had fallen on their knees in worship. The Holy Spirit enlivened them, spurred them to praise and worship of God. How many of us allow the Holy Spirit the freedom to enliven us, to open our eyes to see the wonder of our God?
Of course, the big question is always “How?” How do I allow the Holy Spirit to enliven me, to open my eyes to the wonder of God? Of course, we don’t really need to look too hard for the answer, because, in John 14:26, Jesus said “ …the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” And so, on that first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon those gathered in the Upper Room, and everyone knows what came after that- but if you don’t just read Acts of the Apostles!
We do not live in the world that the first church experienced, but we still need all the gifts the Holy Spirit brings to educate, edify and empower us. We all learnt the list of seven to glibly repeat when we were confirmed, but as we mature they can each change in action to support us through whatever life faces us with.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states
From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace:
- it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation which makes us cry, "Abba! Father!";
- it unites us more firmly to Christ;
- it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;
- it renders our bond with the Church more perfect;
- it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross:
Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the Spirit, in your hearts. (CCC 1303)
Of-course there are even more gifts on offer to us than simply the Isaiah gifts above.
We can find them in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians where he outlines the charismatic gifts or charisms that we should expect to receive and use.
1 Corinthians 12:7-11
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
Although some people think that these gifts were for a few special people or for a certain special time but both Vatican II and Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) both make it plain that these are received and welcomed by all Catholics regardless of position within the Church.
Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning "favour," "gratuitous gift," "benefit." Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church. (CCC 2003)
In a sense it is not the gifts themselves that are important but the giver of the gift - ie God and the intention to which He wants them to be used.
So there we have a long, and certainly not prescriptive, list with which each of us has been gifted, some from our Baptism, and increased at Confirmation and others when we open ourselves to the movement of the Holy Spirit, such as at Pentecost. Sadly, many of us said “Thank you, that was lovely” and squirrelled the gifts away nicely for that rainy day when we would somehow know the time was right to call upon them! Yet, if we remember we are so blessed, we can call upon these gifts every minute of every day, in situations large and small, seemingly insignificant or seemingly impossible, because our God is a God of love and mercy, who wants us to call Abba! Father! In every circumstance. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are not like a very special, highly valuable gift from a distant, well off relative which we lock away in a safe (although they are both very special and highly valuable); they should be out, on display, our witness to the world that our God is with us, and we trust our lives implicitly and explicitly to His care; they should be in use, with every breath that we take, growing stronger in us and allowing us to develop those wonderful Fruits of the Spirit “love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” Galatians 5:22-23
So, next time you are out on your daily walk, exercising the muscles of your body, take the time to ask – “How am I exercising the spiritual muscles the Holy Spirit gifted to me? How am I growing in my spiritual life?” then work out a plan to implement all the gifts of the Holy Spirit in your life. so our prayer should be that of the well-known hymn:
Come, Holy Ghost, Creator, come,
From thy bright heav’nly throne,
Come take possession of our souls,
And make them all thy own.
And further on:
O guide our minds with thy blessed light,
With love our hearts inflame;
And with thy strength, which never decays
Confirm our mortal frame.
Margaret Farrell