As a Church we now prepare for two important feasts. On Thursday we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension into Heaven which will be transferred to next Sunday and the Solemnity of Pentecost which will be June 5th.
At the Ascension the Lord is taken into Heaven Body and Soul. He does not leave us alone as if we were orphans, but promises to send forth the the gift of the Holy Spirit upon us. It was at Pentecost that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles as a strong driving wind which sent them out into the abundant Harvest of the Lord.
The Holy Spirit remains central to our life of faith in this day and age. After all, the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Most Holy Trinity. This means that the Holy Spirt is God who in the words of the Nicene Creed “proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.”
Sadly, the Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as being the “forgotten” member of the godhead. We so easily speak of the importance of God the Father and God the Son, but feel so ill-equipped when it pertains to the importance of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostles came to understand the importance of the Holy Spirit. From the Acts of the Apostles we can clearly see that they did not make decisions without first consulting with the Holy Spirit in prayer. As we were told in the Book of Acts, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.” The Lord tells us of the importance of this Spirit, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”
We must also make the Holy Spirit our Advocate and guide. We live in a confusing world which is filled with many voices. Truth is something which is so often objected to in order to push a spirit of relativism. It is this spirit which leads one to reject truth for this relies upon a person, place, time, and circumstance.
Pope Francis has stated, “We live in an age rather skeptical of truth.” His answer to this dilemma, “be imbued with the light of the Holy Spirit, so that he introduces us into the Truth of God.”
We are each being called upon to chase after truth in our everyday life. Once we know something to be true then we are called upon the embrace and live it. The faith is an encounter with truth, but there are those who want to decide what is truth for them at the expense of the Church’s teachings. Again the Holy Spirit guides us into an encounter with truth.
As we prepare for the Solemnity of Pentecost may we come to invite the Holy Spirit into our midst. Let us be willing to be more open to the Holy Spirit. In the words of Pope Francis, “Holy Spirit may my heart be open to the Word of God, may my heart be open to good, may my heart be open to the beauty of God, every day.”
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