The promise of jesus

PENTECOST SUNDAY
May 23, 2021

The sending of the Holy Spirit is a fulfillment of the promise of Jesus to His disciples: “I will not leave you as orphans” (Jn.14:18). It speaks of the fidelity of Jesus to those who are His own, and of His abiding presence in the person of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the blessed Trinity. The Holy Spirit is another manifestation of the love of God. Love that was present at creation, extended at the incarnation and came to completion in the sending of the Holy Spirit. One of the works of the Holy Spirit is to guide us to the truth of the father revealed in Jesus. Jesus instructed His disciples not to depart from Jerusalem until they have received the Holy Spirit. It is a clear statement of the fact that we are helpless without His life giving spirit. Each of us has been given numerous gifts through the sacraments that we have received, especially the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. It is the spirit of God that helps us to activate those gifts. Today’s celebration is an invitation to collaborate with the spirit of God, operating in and through us, to bear fruits. It may be helpful to be reminded of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, namely: love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. As I wrote and reflected on these fruits, I realized that I have not always been at my best in modeling them. Perhaps you too might, through an honest act of self-examination, come to the same   conclusion. Yet, the realization of our inadequacies is no cause for despair, but an invitation to reach out to God in humility, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding love. On Pentecost, His spirit   descended on the same apostles who denied and   deserted him, for His mercy endures forever. The words of the sequence capture in a most beautiful way the immensity of the power of the spirit of God: It is our solace in the midst of woe, comfort in our affliction, sweet unction from above and a most blessed light divine. With faith in the renewing power of His spirit, we ask Him today to send His renewing dew from above to heal our wounds and renew our strength; to wash our stains of guilt away, bend the stubborn heart and will, and to guide the steps that go astray. We pray that He may pour, upon all of us who come to worship and adore Him, His sevenfold gift. And in the end, may He bring us all to salvation in His everlasting kingdom, Amen.