Imagine the joy that Jesus felt when He was able to send the Holy Spirit to Mary and the Apostles on that first Pentecost. He had greeted them on Easter Sunday night and did tell them then to "Receive the Holy Spirit" and gave them the power to forgive sins. Now, after days of prayer and desire, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to both strengthen and enlighten His friends so that they go forth and preach the good news. We are all given the Holy Spirit in Baptism but receive a deepening of the Spirit in Confirmation. It is the Holy Spirit that inspires us to do good in our world. I was reading a mystic yesterday from the early 19th century who insists that the "acquisition of the Holy Spirit" is what the Christian life is all about and implies that we keep working to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. I guess this is what St. Madeleine Sophie meant when she said that she wanted to live under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For me, I need first of all to recognize the constant action of the Holy Spirit in my life, be attentive to the nudges the Spirit gives me and respond with all my heart! Awareness is the first step in this deepening of our interior life.
I am being faithful to write in my prayer journal each day and find this very helpful so maybe I will urge my readers to do the same. Pentecost is a time to begin again to integrate and deepen our spirituality. I think that I need the Holy Spirit to show me how to make justice, peace, and the integrity of creation (we now refer to this a JPIC and have a serious commitment to it) is at the heart of our charism and how my choices should reflect this. I am praying about this and it is good to know that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives!
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