Friar’s Corner: Soaring on the wings of the Holy Spirit
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; Psalm 66:1-3, 4-7, 16, 20; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21
Are you ready for a new Pentecostal Fire? Let us do a short timeline. We remember the Last Supper events and, in St. John’s gospel, Jesus mentioned several things in chapters 13-17 not recorded in the other gospels. Then he was arrested in the Garden of Olives, tried, crucified and rose from the dead after three days.
Over the next 40 days, he appeared ten times on various days to various people. Next Thursday, except in some dioceses who moved it to Sunday, Jesus gave a few remarks and Jesus went back to heaven. He told his followers, 120 of them, to make the first novena and remain in the city in prayer for 9 days.
At the end of those days, on Sunday morning, a cloud floated over Jerusalem and “sank” on them. It set them on fire with a great boldness to take the Good News of Jesus to the whole world. What was that fire that so transformed them and spread all over the world?
Who is the Holy Spirit?
As a priest, I want to tell you in these next three Sundays several special things about the Holy Spirit. The disciples received a great power from God the Holy Spirit. Who is that Holy Spirit that we first received and ten gifts when we were baptized? He is the third person of what we have come to call the Holy Trinity. Basically, God the Father was working throughout the whole Old Testament. God the Son, came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ, both God and man. He was only here physically for 33 years.
At the Ascension, Jesus prayed for his followers and blessed them as he ascended to heaven. He told them to remain in the city and pray until they would receive power from on high. Let us look at what Jesus told his earliest followers at the Last Supper.
The Paraclete in John’s gospel
What did Jesus tell his earliest followers during the Last Supper about the Holy Spirit?
The word Paraclete basically means a great helper or public defender. Jesus was the first Paraclete and since his work here was finished, he and his Father sent us their Family Spirit to continue our work of salvation. In brief form, we read in five sentences the major work of the Holy Spirit.
- After Jesus went back to heaven, he asked his Father to send down on his apostles and disciples (men and women) their Spirit of TRUTH who remains around and within us, John 14:17.
- Then the Holy Spirit will INSTRUCT us and REMIND us of what Jesus said and did, John 14:26.
- Then the Holy Spirit will bear WITNESS on Jesus’ behalf and we must go into the world to testify to Jesus in God’s power, John 15:26.
- God‘s Spirit of Truth will “prove the world wrong about sin, about justice and about condemnation,” John 16:7-8. If you read and listen to the culture and news, sin is out of the dictionary. We can do whatever pleases us. “Wrong!” That is a lie of satan and the Holy Spirit will show us how it is wrong.
- The last major work the Holy Spirit will do is: GUIDE us to the truth of God’s plans for our future. And he will ANNOUNCE to us the things that will come, John 16:13. “The Holy Spirit will have received from me what he will announce to you.” Amen!
Jesus added the Holy Spirit
St. John the Baptist and Jesus advanced a call for repentance and turning to the will of God as they dunked or poured water over us. But Jesus added something that John could not give. He gave us his Holy Spirit. So I ask Jesus to baptize you in the Holy Spirit to activate two of the gifts we received at our baptism, God’s wisdom and understanding so we can know more of what God’s will for all of us is; to love one another as God loves all of his human creatures.
Next week I shall look at more of the ways that the Holy Spirit works in our lives by reflecting on the Pentecost Sequence we recite on Pentecost Sunday. The Holy Spirit comes like a beautiful and peaceful white dove to raise us up on his wings. Let’s fly high with him.
We pray in the Nicene Creed on Sunday and major feasts: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.”
Five quotes of Jesus on the Holy Spirit
- John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Paraclete –(1st is Jesus) to be with you always The SPIRIT OF TRUTH, whom the world cannot accept since it neither sees him nor recognizes him; but you can recognize him because he remains with you and will be within you.”
- John 14:26 “This much have I told you while I was still with you; The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my Name, will INSTRUCT you in everything, and REMIND you of all that I told you. Peace is my farewell to you, my peace is my gift to you.”
- John 15:26 “When the Paraclete comes, the SPIRIT OF TRUTH who comes from the Father and whom I myself will send from the Father he (the Holy Spirit) will bear WITNESS on my behalf. You must bear witness as well.”
- John 16:7-8 “Yet I tell you the sober truth: it is much better for you that I go. If I fail to go, the PARACLETE will never come to you, whereas if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he (Holy Spirit) will prove the world wrong about sin, about justice, about condemnation.”
- John 16:13 “When he comes, however, being the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, he will GUIDE you to all truth. (see John 8:31-32) he will not speak on his own, but will speak only what he hears, and will ANNOUNCE to you the things to come (the future).”
14: “In doing this he will give glory to me, because he will have received from me what he will announce to you.
Dear Father and Jesus, I beg you to baptize in the fire of your love all those who are reading this little sharing. Empower them to bring this Good News to those around them, which you point out to them. We Catholics are descendants of those first disciples of Jesus who also wants us to go forth into the world to announce God’s Good News in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is great wisdom and hope in the midst of this coronavirus.
Have a safe and blessed week,
+ Father Bob Hilz
fbhilz@gmail.com
(© 2020 Father Bob Hilz, TOR)
