Acts 2:4

The acts of apostles is sometimes called the “gospel of the Holy Spirit,” and with good reason. It is all release and jubilation, all understanding and community. The Holy Spirit is the driving force that enabled simple men and women to shout the good news of the resurrection, to proclaim to the waiting world a new era in God’s relationship with human kind. All people can avail of this life-giving spirit. All the dialects of the earth can understand this common language of God. The Holy Spirit can sweep clean through all human obstacles and there is no stopping it. The Greco Roman world was caught up in this new spirit; it was transformed anew. So too, can our world today be transformed anew if only we can let the Holy Spirit into our lives.

The Holy Spirit fills, not only the earth, but all the members of the body of Christ. This spirit, Jesus instructs us, enters the hearts of the faithful. It provides rest and comfort for the weary and burdened, it makes stouthearted what is timid and lukewarm, heals and strengthens what is wounded and weakened.

The body of Christ, of which St. Paul speaks (1 Cor12/3-13) is one in the spirit, and this one spirit is manifest through each person for the good of the whole. The spirit is for everyone; it is not selective, is not impressed by this person or that, Greek or Jew, foreigner or native. The spirit can flood all humankind so that each human being can welcome the spirit in his or her own language. The Spirit of the Lord, as Jesus reminds us, is like a gentle wind; it blows where it wishes, and no one person has a monopoly of the Spirit.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and kindle in us the fire of your love.

Fr. Hugh Duffy