Two more weeks and we reach one of the most important events in our lives, Pentecost. Jesus continues to say: "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" (Jn 14:25-26).
We need the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, what Jesus has told us will not become real in our lives. We will then become "distressed or fearful" (Jn 14:27). Without the Spirit, we will make "a pretense of religion but negate its power" (2 Tm 3:5), foster doubt rather than faith, and promote disunity in the body of Christ. We receive the Spirit or stay locked by fear in the upper room (Jn 20:19, 26). We receive the Spirit or see our life's work amount to nothing, for "flesh begets flesh, Spirit begets spirit" (Jn 3:6).
The word "spirit" also means "breath." We need the Holy Spirit as much or even more than we need our life's breath. Begin to wait and pray (Acts 1:4), to pray and thirst (Lk 11:13), to thirst and believe (Jn 7:37), to believe and obey (Acts 5:32). Jesus "breathed on them and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit'" (Jn 20:22).
| PRAYER: | Father, renew my Confirmation. Fill me with the Spirit in a way beyond anything I have ever imagined (Eph 3:20). |
| PROMISE: | The angel "carried me away in spirit to the top of a very high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God." –Rv 21:10 |
| PRAISE: | Praise the Risen Jesus, Who promised to send the Holy Spirit to instruct us in all things (Jn 14:26). Alleluia! |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College