Come Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Announcing the jubilee year of mercy, Pope Francis challenged us to proclaim God’s mercy to everyone without exception…again and again.

Initially the disciples were locked in the upper room out of fear.  On the Day of Pentecost those locked doors were thrown open;  the fear in the disciples  was replaced with a Spirit-filled courage and enthusiasm.  They were now fearless proclaimers of the Word of God.

What had changed for the disciples?  They received the Holy Spirit.

And so we pray on this day of Pentecost:  Come Holy Spirit.  Fill the hearts of your faith and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Pentecost is called the birthday of the church because at the moment the Holy Spirit entered the followers of Jesus, they became the Body of Christ in the world.  However, the story in the Acts of the Apostles suggests that this birth did not happen without serious birth pangs.

Pentecost marks perhaps the most  important transition the followers of Jesus had to face after He departed from them after the Ascension.  Jesus is gone.  In Jesus’ absence, we find a frightened, doubting group,  perhaps arguing among themselves, but feeling abandoned and totally unprepared.

How do we identify with the disciples in the time immediately  after the Lord’s Ascension into heaven?  How do we experience the absence of Jesus in our lives?  For me, it is those times when I am going in a thousand different directions,  and there is a lacked of centeredness in my life.  It is like when I have lost my soul.  It is when I am trying to do too much myself and not trusting in the help of others and not trusting in the grace of God.

When do I need to do?  Stop and breathe.  Breathe in the Holy Spirit and breathe out the fears and anxieties of my life.

This is the great grace of  Pentecost.  Breathe in the Holy Spirit.  Claim the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to us.  We are a spirit-filled Pentecost people.  Pentecost celebrates that the Gospel of Jesus fulfills the deepest yearnings of the human heart.

What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit to us?

The GIFT OF MERCY  -- In this jubilee year of mercy,  we are to be missionaries of mercy proclaiming God’s mercy to everyone without exception…again and again.

The GIFT OF FORGIVENESS  -- To always be grateful for God’s unending love for us and the gift to forgive those people in your life who don’t deserve it.

The GIFT  OF WELCOME --  So much so that there are no strangers of enemies among us.

The GIFT  OF HOPE --  Always and everywhere you refuse to be discouraged by the challenges of life.

The GIFT OF JOY –  All of life is a gift  of God for which we are to be thankful.

The GIFT  OF FAITH –  That trust in knowing that God goes with us in all experiences of life.

We have the power to change lives – ourselves and others?

These are the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  This is the grace of the Feast of Pentecost we celebrate today.

Are these gifts too gifts  to be true or are they really God’s precious gifts given to us?  Come Holy Spirit.  Fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

The great truth of Pentecost  -- for the first disciples and for us as well  -- is that the Holy Spirit has the power to enlarge and expand the human heart if we  allow the Spirit of Jesus to grow and enliven us from within.  The power to forgive, the power to welcome and to receive all others in Jesus’s name is the power and the grace of Pentecost.  Come Holy Spirit.  Fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of  your love.

On this Day of Pentecost may we all take a few moments to reflect and claim our God-given giftedness.  Further, may we all commit ourselves to using our God-given giftedness in the service of one another.