Bound in Love

Today is Pentecost Sunday, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the beginning of the missionary Church. Next Sunday we can talk about the Trinity, but today, let’s talk about the Holy Spirit because he has descended today to be with us.

Jesus left Earth nine days ago at the Feast of the Ascension, rising by his own power to his throne in Heaven, where he reigns in glory surrounded by the Apostles and Martyrs and Seraphim and Cherubim. We get a beautiful image of the company of Heaven with the Lamb on his throne from St. John’s Revelation.

That means that Jesus has left us. He does not leave us alone, however. He promised he would send a helper, a comforter, a friend to be with us where we dwell. That is the Holy Spirit. Jesus is with us, really present in the sacraments, especially the Sacrament of the Eucharist, where we receive his body, blood, soul, and divinity into our earthly bodies at Holy Communion in the Mass.

Our understanding of that sacramental presence is why we should try to receive him in the most reverent way possible. If every particle of the blessed sacrament contains the divinity of Jesus, then we want – or we should want – to ensure that no particle is lost or dropped. The safest way to do this is to receive Him directly into our mouths, which we call reception on the tongue. As the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament grew through the centuries, reception on the tongue became the norm – the established way – to receive Holy Communion. There certainly is evidence that people have received Holy Communion in the hand, but that practice gave way to the other practice over the centuries. It recently came back as one of the changes coming out of the Second Vatican Council. Everyone here should consider spending time in prayer thinking about what it means to receive Jesus into our mortal bodies and how we should reflect our beliefs in our actions at Mass. However we receive Him, we really should do so with the greatest reverence possible.

Other than at Mass or in Adoration, the presence of God we feel is really the Holy Spirit. We know with our intellect that we receive the grace of God – that sanctifying grace that he gives us to grow more holy and closer to Him – through the Eucharist, Baptism, Confirmation, and the sacraments of Healing. And we get that grace whether we feel Him or not. The sacramental life is a life of God’s mercy, for it does not depend on us but is a pure gift from Him.

So while we know that we receive Grace objectively in the sacraments, our loving God knows that our feelings are a big part of what makes us who we are. God gave us our feelings because he wants us to feel. We are not robots; we are human persons with emotions, passions, intellect, and will. All those can be used for good, if we choose the good.

Pentecost Sunday is nine days after Ascension Thursday. Consider for a moment the transformation of the Apostles after those nine days. Jesus had been with them after the Resurrection for 40 days; everybody saw him, and in some ways nothing really changed. They were his disciples; he was their rabbi. Then he went away, ascending by his own power to his throne in Heaven. They were alone, completely alone. Jesus had left them. For nine days they dwelt in darkness.

Then came the Holy Spirit, and the graces rained upon them. They were no longer disciples; they were Apostles. They divided the world up and went to spread the good news. All but one died as witnesses to the faith; all the Apostles were martyrs except John. They went as far as India and Spain; these were the ends of the earth as far as they knew. They spoke boldly and bravely, they suffered for the faith, they completed the race.

Pentecost shows us that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we notice it. Yes, the Apostles were suddenly able to preach in the language of the Medes and the Parthians, but it is more amazing that they were able to preach. St. Peter is our favorite inconsistent disciple in the gospel stories. One day he is so in tune with our Lord he can walk on water for a bit; another day he is so clueless he is sharply rebuked by our Lord. One day he blurts out, “You are the Christ.” The night of the Passion, he denies Jesus three times. Up and down, hot and cold; that’s St. Peter. But not after the Holy Spirit descends.

After the coming of the Holy Spirit, Peter has an entirely new kind of understanding. He has an entirely new kind of courage, and he no longer allows himself to be separated from the Way. Peter has received the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, reverent piety, and reverent fear of the Lord.

We received an outpouring of these gifts at our confirmation. They are always made available to us; sometimes we have to open our eyes to see them and open our mouths to ask for them, but they are always there for us. When we can suddenly see things as God sees them, that’s the gift of wisdom from the Holy Spirit. When we are finally able to commit to doing good and avoiding evil on a sustained basis, that’s the gift of fortitude from the Holy Spirit. When our understanding of what’s happening at Mass causes us to change our behavior at Mass, that’s the gift of Piety from the Holy Spirit. These are some of the movements of the Holy Spirit.

Today, before the Gospel, we heard the Sequence, “Come, Holy Spirit.” Our cantor sang so beautifully, we might have missed some of the words, but those words are great words for us to pray with and implore the Holy Spirit to come further into our lives.

Listen to a few these petitions, and consider adding them to your personal prayer time:

• O most blessed Light divine, Shine within these hearts of yours, And our inmost being fill!
• Heal our wounds, our strength renew; On our dryness pour your dew; Wash the stains of guilt away:
• Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill; Guide the steps that go astray.

Our lives as disciples of Christ should be lives of Life in the Spirit. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.