PENTECOST 2016

´Send forth your Spirit O Lord, and renew the face of the earth´

The Acts of the Apostles shows how the Holy Spirit transformed the Apostles from being fearful disciples, huddling behind closed doors, into courageous witnesses for Christ:

´They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them power to express themselves´. (Acts, 2.4)

Once gifted by the Holy Spirit the disciples became dynamic missionaries. They were filled with the gift of courage so that nothing stopped them from proclaiming the love of Christ for all people. At baptism the Holy Spirit gives each one new life and the seed is planted that, when nurtured and developed, will enable the baptized person to be an enthusiastic missionary of the Lord.

One suspects that many people have not discovered the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given them and, even if discovered, may underestimate their value and importance for the mission of the Church. And that, no doubt, is in large part due to an elitist attitude that has prevailed for too long, namely, that to be a missionary is reserved for a chosen few. Nothing could be further from the truth because, in point of fact, all baptized persons are called to be missionaries.

One of the challenges then for all of us is to help one another discern the gifts which the Holy Spirit has granted to each person. And not just discern but also to nurture and develop these gifts. This, in turn, means that people must have the space and the opportunity to place their gifts at the service of the community. In his first letter to the Corinthians St Paul says very clearly – ´to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good´(1 Cor 12,7). It is in the community context that we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and it is in the same context that we can and must put them to good use.

If it is necessary to discern the gifts of the Holy Spirit it is equally necessary to discern what the Holy Spirit is saying to us through our experience and through the reality around us. In a recent encyclical (Laudato Si) Pope Francis spoke of the environment and climate change: what is the Holy Spirit saying to us in this regard? Daily our news bulletins carry reports about refugees and the homeless: what is the Holy Spirit prompting us to do with regard to these people? There are fewer vocations to the priesthood in Ireland than in former times: what is the Holy Spirit telling us about vocations and the mission of the Church?

It is in prayer and in community that we will best discern in what direction the Holy Spirit wants us to move.