Chaplain’s Column

Come Holy Spirit -- come

As I begin writing this reflection, we have recently celebrated the Feast of Pentecost.

It is the third most important day within the liturgical year, after Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. It is the 50th day of the Easter season –the jubilee day! It is the day when God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, sent their Holy Spirit upon Mary and the apostles who were gathered together in the upper room, in Jerusalem, praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

This was the first novena ever celebrated within the church. A novena usually consists of praying specified prayers for a certain number of days. This first novena was for nine days.

What were they praying for? That God would send the Holy Spirit upon them so that they would become effective and powerful witnesses of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to every person they met.

What happened? As they were praying on the morning of the ninth day, a mighty wind blew within the room they were gathered in and tongues of fire came down upon each of their heads. They began to prophesy, proclaiming the mighty works of God, as well as speaking in the tongues of all the languages which were spoken in the world at that time. All the people who had come to Jerusalem on pilgrimage from all over the known world at that time heard the apostles speaking in each of their own languages. At first, some thought the Apostles were drunk on wine. But when they realized they were speaking in their own native languages, they knew this had to be the work of God.

If there ever was a time when we needed the power of the Holy Spirit to help us meet the challenges we face within the church, as well as within the world at large, it is today. So many challenges are beyond our capacity to resolve without divine intervention --- an increase in the number of school shootings every year; a high suicide rate among teens and young adults; terrorist attacks all over the globe; and sexual assault and abuse effecting every segment of society.

Our Heavenly Father is aching to help us with all of these challenges, but he will not intervene unless we give him permission to do so. He respects our free will to the extent that he will even permit us to destroy our society, as well as the planet we live on, if we choose to do so. He wants to send his Holy Spirit into our hearts, homes, schools, neighborhoods, legislatures, courts, and every dimension of society to help us, but he will not force himself upon us.

We must invite Him! May we do so before it’s too late.